LAST week was End Youth Suicide Week (Monday, February 13 to Friday, February 17), an initiative supported by peer-led youth intervention organisation Youth Insearch, who support young people in Gippsland, Goulburn and Greater Melbourne.
The week encourages Australians to defy the stigma associated with mental health, and to openly talk about suicide with their friends, families and communities.
One young person living in the Wellington Shire who has overcome adversity is Youth Insearch trainee peer worker, Kaara Jackson-Watson.
The 20-year-old had a very tough time growing up.
“I experienced sexual assault, drug and alcohol abuse and toxic relationships,” she said.
“My grades slipped and I was told, “school isn’t for everyone”. My anger spiked, and I caused constant arguments and was told it was just my time of the month. I made a suicide attempt and later went to therapy.
“When that didn’t help after only a couple of sessions, I got ‘why do I even pay for therapy if it’s not working?'”
Ms Jackson-Watson moved out of home after she turned 17.
“I worked every day and when I got home, I used drugs to drown out the silence and fill up how empty I felt,” she said.
“I spent a long time just trying to push my emotions to the bottom of the deep, black bag of issues I was carrying around with me everywhere.”
A Youth Insearch support worker came to Ms Jackson-Watson’s high school when she was 14.
After Ms Jackson-Watson explained to them that she was struggling, they referred her to more help from the organisation.
“I came to Youth Insearch for my depression, I thought I could find something that would help me that wasn’t relying on a tiny pill every morning,” she said.
“I realised very quickly that I had more issues than I was acknowledging. I made my first disclosure at Youth Insearch, and my support worker fought tooth-and-nail to get me into counselling.
“Youth Insearch didn’t hold my hand and tell me everything was going to be alright, but they were honest, and they held my hand when I didn’t know what I needed.”
Now, Ms Jackson-Watson is able to give back to the community by supporting other young people as part of Youth Insearch.
“My job is to support my caseload of young people going through things like depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation,” she said.
“I usually catch-up with them once a week, but depending on how often they need me, I may catch up with them more. And I touch base with any new referrals and get them involved.”
Ms Jackson-Watson said she hoped that the community understands that at-risk youth don’t want to take their own lives.
“They don’t want to (die by suicide). They’ll do everything they can to ask for help before it gets to that point,” she said.
“They don’t want to make everyone else’s lives difficult, whether it’s friends or family. They aren’t trying to act out deliberately. When nobody’s listening to them, they think it’s their last resort.
“When they finally feel that somebody’s listening, they take a deep breath and say ‘I don’t need to resort to that’. And they’re all incredibly eager to help themselves and get out their issues and their trauma, and make themselves better.
“We’re not a crisis line, we’re here so when they do ask for help they can get it. We advocate for them to go to therapy.”
Ms Jackson-Watson is glad that she found help and was able to fight off her demons.
“I managed to pull myself out of drug and alcohol addiction and moved myself to a better job that I loved doing,” she said.
“From there, everything got easier. I found a guy that I adore and got engaged. We now have a beautiful 10-month-old daughter that is the light of our lives.
“I wouldn’t ever say that I’m cured, because even after acknowledging my problems and traumas, it still hurts.
“But knowing I’ve got a support network I can fall back on when things get tough, makes it easier.”
The theme of End Suicide Week this year is from ‘trauma to triumph’ and acknowledges the 402 young people who lost their lives to suicide in 2021, 80 of whom were under 17-years-old.
These young people have been referred to as the ‘missing middle’, though Youth Insearch prefers to refer to them as the ‘forgotten middle’.
Youth Insearch says that young people who fit into this category are not missing. They have always been present though they have been ‘forgotten’ by the mainstream medical solution approach currently in place, to address youth mental health and suicide rates.
All Australians deserve the very best chance for a healthy, rewarding and satisfying life. However, despite more than $11 billion invested by government, business and private providers each year, suicide remains the leading cause of death in young Australians, and many young people are not receiving the support they need. There is an estimated $22 billion per year loss to the Australian economy from the impact of youth suicide.
To find out more about Youth Insearch or to download the Forgotten Middle report, visit youthinsearch.org.au or eysw.com.au
If you need immediate assistance, call crisis services Lifeline on 13 11 14, Kids Help Line on 1800 55 1800 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.
If your life is in danger, please call 000.
For non-crisis support, call Youth Insearch on 1800 805 635.
