FEATURE
Statistics tell us… • 1/3 of the Christchurch population are children and young people, with 20–24 year-olds being the second biggest group. • The brain doesn’t fully mature until about age 25 (and this can range from 22–30 years). In early teen years feelings are powerful and drive life. Thoughts are concrete and the ability to think about thinking (metacognition) gradually develops. Decisions are based on what is important to them. This is also true for adults, but teens make decisions based on what is important to them at the time more quickly and more often. • Since the earthquakes, more and more call is being made on mental health services. CDHB’s Canterbury Wellbeing Index (2016) reports that from 2011 to 2016 the increase in demand for mental health services rose 21% for those over 18yrs and 27% for those 17yrs or under. • According to the CERA Youth Well-being Survey (2013) 20% of youths aged 12-24 years living in Christchurch rate their life negatively and 35% score below the mean in the WHO’s well-being index. Of those 35% significant influencers were poor health or disability and unemployment. In 2013, 94% of youth experienced stress (again influenced by poor health and unemployment) and of that 94%, 28% experienced persistent stress. • A recent mental health report (by the Mental Health Commissioner, 2018) sates that 50–80% of all kiwis experience at least one mental health or addiction episode or problem during their lives, equating to about 20% of kiwis in any one year. Evidence also says that 50% of Kiwis experience poor mental wellbeing that impacts their lives. Youth Hubs Work… • The hub/wrap-around services model has been trialled overseas with great success. It’s efficient, is liked by youth, and youth tend to stick with it. • Providing wrap-around services and a place to belong (often called connectedness) is vital to prevent escalating mental health issues and suicide in youth. • The Christchurch youth hub will provide wraparound services and a place to belong. Services already in discussion with Sue are: Youthline, White Elephant Trust (cool activities for youth), the Collaborative Trust, City Mission, Foodbank, Methodist Mission, Presbyterian Support, a community garden, Nurse Maude, Big Brothers Big Sisters and more.
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Karen’s Story I want to share with you a story of a young girl that was helped at 198, the previous version of this new dream. Her name is Karen (not her real name) and she was 13 years old and attended the local high school (well, most of the time). But the story starts before that. She was born into a family that shifted around due to the Father’s job. Her early life was spent in the far north in a poor but close knit community where she had a happy life full of family and friends. After shifting around a few times, the family ended up in Christchurch where Karen was at the local primary school and doing well academically. This was partly thanks to her Dad who was good at explaining things, and Karen felt she could go to him for anything she didn’t understand and he would help her get it right. But soon her big sister moved away for study, her big brother for work, and her other brother was “absent” (at home but in his own world). The 13-year-old was also changing (puberty and emotions), and her parents had started arguing. She remembers travelling back