FORMER Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry says a new mental health centre in Werribee will be a “ray of hope” against youth suicide rates that are rocking Melbourne’s growth corridors.
Professor McGorry believes the rate of youth suicide in Wyndham could be as high as it is in Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Berwick in Melbourne’s outer south-east, where the community was torn by at least nine deaths in the 12 months to last July.
Although official figures are not publicly available, Professor McGorry believes youth suicides are happening in Wyndham at the same disturbing frequency but are not attracting the same attention.
“There are a lot of the same problems in Wyndham that there are in Casey among young people, like isolation, a lack of [purpose], a lack of jobs or training and the feeling they don’t have a future,” he said.
“For young people in places like Wyndham, the sharp end of these problems is suicide.”
His comments follow Friday’s announcement that Orygen Youth Health will be the lead agency for a headspace centre that will open in Werribee by the end of the year.
Professor McGorry, the director of Orygen, said youth suicide was preventable and the new centre, aimed at people aged 12-25, will save lives.
“Werribee will be a one-stop shop where youth workers may be people’s point of contact, then they get to see youth-friendly GPs, psychologists, alcohol and drug workers, if necessary, and educational and vocational support.
“It’s normalised the whole process of mental health and there’s no stigma for people who come in.”
The Werribee centre will be integrated with services at the Orygen-run headspace centre in Sunshine, strengthening the mental health system in Melbourne’s west.
Professor McGorry said while the state government had recently funded a $34.7 million inpatient mental health unit at Werribee Mercy Hospital, youth mental health was “the most under-resourced part of the system”.
“The growth corridor in Wyndham is so rapidly growing that it has to be constantly invested in and the state government needs to do more – they really need to match these Commonwealth investments.”
Prime Minister and Lalor MP Julia Gillard said the new centre, one of 70 funded by a $200 million federal government investment, would plug a critical gap in Wyndham.
“I know that one in four young people in our community will experience a mental health issue this year. And yet three-quarters of these people aren’t receiving the professional support they need because of a lack of youth-specific mental health services.”
Maria Mercuri, director of New View Psychology at Wyndham Private, said the headspace service was a big step for Wyndham, where young people were increasingly seeking help for anxiety and depression.
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