Can technology help prevent mental illness in young people?
On Thursday 18th August, Associate Professor Jane Burns, CEO of
the
Cooperative Research Centre for Young People, Technology and
Wellbeing delivered an address to the National Press Club on
the topic "The Happiness Highway: Leveraging technologies to
improve wellbeing for young Australians" - which we
at ReachOut Pro thoroughly recommend taking the time to watch.
In the address, she made an effective case for the need
for better preventative strategies to address mental
illness among young people, citing:
"Too often suicide is the result of untreated
mental illness. Seventy-five per cent of mental
illness begins before the age of 25. Seventy per cent
of young people do not ever make it into a mental health
service. Every year mental illness costs Australia $48.6
billion: $17.5 billion in loss to life from suicide and
suicide attempts; $10.6 billion in untreated mental health
problems; and an alarming $20.5 billion in loss to life or
reduced well… from reduced wellbeing."
But, there is hope, she says:
To reduce the digital disconnect, we literally need to get
on the same screen. So can we attend to parents fears without
either overemphasising or trivialising the risks? Can we keep the
good, get rid of the bad, and leverage the opportunity that
technology affords to promote the wellbeing of young Australians?
Well we - collectively because many of us in the room - believe
yes. And we believe that it can only be achieved in
cooperation.
The address was a motivating and insightful look into the need
to use technology to engage and support young people in the spaces
where they are living.
Click
here to watch the full address
Want to know more about the Cooperative
Research Centre for Young People, Technology and Wellbeing? Visit
their newly launched site at
http://yawcrc.org.au/