Written by Ivan Adnan, Journalism Assistant

As the university year is about to begin in a few weeks, I felt I should dedicate my first blog post to the ugly elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about or discuss. A topic which is close to my heart, which I have been reflecting on since my exams at the end of the second uni semester in 2010. Academic Stress.

It is not tangible, usually not even seen. But it manifests itself in a myriad of ways. Fidgety? Can’t sleep? Always worried about a huge load of uni or school work? Always stressing about your rankings, grades and upcoming exams? Never stop being restless? Well then…

Okay fair enough. It is normal, nay, almost necessary to be concerned with grades, how well you are doing. Hell, it’s even accepted as the norm to be nervous around exam times (apparently it’s supposed to give us a ‘rush’, in our ‘rush’ to do well). When we stress a little, it’s good for us as our brains are given signals to work harder, focus, pay more attention. Sadly, this is an accepted reality. 

But these symptoms become a serious problem when it is apparent that they are ever present. When you find yourself jolting awake suddenly at night, or when you can’t enjoy a sunny day outside because of the above worries…it’s academic stress. 

Academic Stress is inescapable. Everyone experiences it to varying degrees. Below I will attempt to outline the roots and causes, and why it manifests in us.

1) Competition in Academia

First of all, as university, college and school students, we want to do well. Who doesn’t? But the competition is taken a step further when students start ripping each other to shreds by comparing and contrasting each others’ grades, enquiring about the grades of others, even at times humiliating each other. This happens amongst friends too. What begins as healthy competition where everyone encourages each other turns into backstabbing and snooping? In our efforts to do well at our studies, we do well at something else; hurting each other. Grades can take on the role of an indicator of our greatness, when really it shouldn’t.

2) Race to the Finish Line

As much as I’d like to say students study hard for personal fulfilment, enrichment and excitement, let’s be honest with ourselves. It’s because we want a bright future and a rewarding (more importantly, well paid and possibly even prestigious) career. It starts on our first day of kindergarten when our kindy teacher dazzles us with her smile and asks us to draw ourselves as what we want to be when we grow up. As we hand in the drawings, our teacher gives us gold star stickers. Doctor. Engineer. Fireman. Singer. Then comes our senior school exams, during which time we are making college and university choices, and by the time uni rolls around we are so set to race the race of life (aka The Rat Race), that we are pumped…pumped full of anxiety. From interviewing about 30 university students at random, my understanding is that when we enter higher education, we are already at the beginnings of being riddled with debt and worry; add to that our (and also our parents’) desire for us to finish as quickly as we can and start our careers, earn big bucks, it is a small wonder why this proverbial ‘race’ is a major trigger for academic stress.

3) Piling up a Plate the Size of Tasmania

 Here I shall digress for a moment and segue into extracurriculars. Extracurricular activities and academic studies are like bread and butter. You can’t have one without the other.

In our competitive job market, they are a necessary tool we are expected to utilise in order to make us look more attractive to our employers, to show them that we are serious about our chosen professions and industries.

However, where many go wrong is when they overload. Just like overloading on textbooks, studying, subjects and Nutella, TOO many extracurricular activities (over the same time period that is) are not only a bad management of our time, energy, mental headspace, but physically damaging. This is another shade of academic stress.

Emily Choi, Training and Development Executive

Written by Emily Choi, Training and Development Executive

Some of the reasons why suicide rates within the Gen Y population are so high could be due technology, money and dysfunctional families. The rise in telecommunications technology have meant that many teenagers are vulnerable to meeting people who do not have their best interests at heart.

There have recently been a few cases where teenagers have committed suicide because they were bullied by people they have not even met before i.e. cyber bullying. Not only from the Internet, but also television has also enabled Gen Ys to witness real man-made tragedies, natural disasters and other horrors of this world.

No previous cohorts have endured this amount of repeated, harsh and inescapable news from the media environment, which forces Gen Y to get a close-up on just how insignificant and vulnerable one human life could be.

The impact of society’s focus on money and status, which in turn raises depression levels was actually an issue brought up by my Psychology lecturer recently. There is an irony in that the more people try to fulfil their fundamental need for belonging the more they lose it. Greatly aided by large-scale advertising, people yearn for branded clothing and expensive cars because ownership of these materialistic items allows them to ‘fit in’ with the mainstream crowd.

Hence, people try to earn more and gain wealth in order to buy this image; however at the same time this means less time spent with friends and family which in turn, decreases your level of interaction and belongingness to close ones. In the end, many find that their years of hard work lead them to a dead end where they do not end up acquiring what they really want.

Finally, divorce rates have never been so high before, creating dysfunctional families for many Gen Ys. Gen X’s dramatic shift away from conservatism after the World War has resulted in many babies to be born out of marriage i.e. the Gen Ys. Much psychology research has found that inappropriate parenting and an improper environment during a child’s development has enormous impacts upon an individual’s mental health. There are far greater levels of family breakdown than in previous generations which cause significant emotional turmoil for young people. Teenage mood swings are often unrecognised as something that could be more serious and are left unattended.

Perhaps at home, parents should keep teenagers that are showing depression symptoms away from the Internet for long periods of time and try to be aware of their social circle.

Although we may not be able to prevent young adults from ‘Gen Y’ being bombarded by more images of death than any previous generation, we can try to promote a more optimistic outlook of life by transforming fear of world disasters into proactive energy to do something about it.

This includes alerting the government who has the power to direct more investment into researching, promoting and developing mental facilities.

References

Avagianou, P. & Zafiropoulou, M. 2008, Parental bonding and depression: Personality as a mediating factor, International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, Vol 20(3), pp. 261-269.

Esther Lee, Analytics Assistant to HRP

Written by Esther Lee, Analytics Assistant to HRP

Generation Y is also known as the ‘Net Generation’, since most of interaction and communication are done through the internet. Living in the 21st century, it is a big benefit to have technology that brings together people whenever and wherever they are.  However, many people often take an advantage of their anonymity online. Internet is one of the most powerful medium that is causing the increase of Generation Y suicide.

The anonymity in the online-world provides a protective shield for bullies. Behind this protective shield, they abuse their victims. Although the abuse is not physical nor contacting the victims face-to-face, cyber bullying torments the victims’ lives and lead them to suicide. With increasing use of social networks, cyber bullying also flourished.

For social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, which do not need extensive information upon registration, it is quite easy to make a fabricated account. Such incidences are not rare and certainly do need attention. A solution to barricade the bullies should be developed to stop further damage.

For example, one Korean social networking site asks specific personal details upon registration, including address, mobile phone number, and social security number, for prevention measures against cyber terror.

Another concern is that the advantage of anonymity can invite people to urge highly suicidal people. Rather than trying to comfort depressed suicidal people, some net users push those high-risk people into action without any guilt due to their anonymity.

Also, the growing number of websites that encourage suicide is also a danger. One site called ‘Church of Euthanasia’ advises in suicide methods and tells people to do a ‘good job’ when doing it. Another site (http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=suicide) actually persuades people that they are not wanted in this world and suicide is the answer to everything.

Just by skimming through these sites for research, it was enough to scare ‘normal-minded’ people.

However, those messages are more than powerful when read by people who are suffering from depression or other psychological disorders. Furthermore, some sites provide suicidal chatrooms where people make a pact to die together or to arrange for murder, which can also encourage ‘at-risk’ people to engage in action. To stop such chaos, there have been a number of bills and legislations to clean out the cyber space.

However, it is difficult to have a common law for all the countries and even checking out every single website would need enormous amount of money and human resources. So how would we solve this problem? We hope to find out soon, because if we don’t, Generation Y will be at risk of being extinct.

References:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=suicide

http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/

Written by Steven Kuy, Social Media Marketing Assistant

Steven Kuy, Social Media Marketing Assistant

As reviewed last year by Better Health Channel (2009), it was reported that “around 2, 000 Australians die from suicide every year.¹ Some estimates suggest that around one in four people knew someone who took their own life.” Shocking to know even if we wanted to prevent it from happening to one of our loved ones, it is very difficult to tell.

Although this is true, you can still look for the tell-tale signs before suicide, various changes in the persons behavior to their norm, don’t have an interest and withdraw from their regular activity with both family, and friends, giving away possessions, personality changes, and also tendency to harm themselves.

“About 80 per cent of young people who complete suicide told someone they intended to kill themselves”.² The fact that these alarming figures are so high, shows that something could have been done, but hasn’t. However, why do people especially young people commit suicide?
This could be due to the fact that the “person may experience an overwhelming and immediate stress, or stress that builds up over a long time”.² Other issues that can cause a person to commit suicide are, departure of important figure in that person’s life, abuse in all forms, failure in both relationships and school, discrimination by others, isolation, and even a recent family, or friend suicide.

How can we prevent this? This can be easily done by, listening, caring, acknowledgment, asking, pointing out, stay with them, tell others as in their parents, and get help from a professional. You just have to remember that you don’t have to be trained in any way to help out a friend, or family member that is experiencing suicidal thoughts, you should also take each and every threat seriously, and by as mentioned before, offering your support whilst they go through such a stage.

1. ‘Suicide – Family and Friends’ 2009, Better Health Channel, viewed 2 December 2010, <http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Suicide_family_and_friends?open>
2. ‘Youth Suicide – The Warning Signs’ 2009, Better Health Channel, viewed 2 December 2010, <http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Youth_suicide_prevention_the_warning_signs>

Nicole Jackson, HR Liaison Officer & Sponsorship Marketing Assistant

Written by Nicole Jackson,  HR Liaison Officer & Sponsorship Marketing Assistant, Utopia Research Institute

In 2007, my friend Patrick was school captain of his high school, highly regarded by his peers and voted in the year book awards as ‘Most likely to succeed’. Now, less than three years on, he has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital on suicide watch. The thing is I never saw it coming.

He was so happy and everyone loved him then about halfway through year 12 he became distant. No one saw him except in class. Before then he’d come to all the parties on weekends, he wasn’t a party animal but he was always there laughing and smiling. Then he suddenly shut himself off from the world. I knew he was suffering from depression but he was receiving help and I naively thought everything would work itself out. When I saw him he was the same old Patrick. I had no idea there could be such demons raging inside of him.

Then the horrible news came. He had attempted to commit suicide by overdosing on his antidepressants. He was put into a medically induced comma to stop his kidneys from creating toxins that were poisoning his body. He pulled through, whether he wanted to or not.

Now Patrick is in a psychiatric hospital where he is checked on every 45 minutes. They don’t know how long they will keep him there while he undertakes classes to help him deal with his mental illness. I find it hard to understand what he is going through. He has a great family, a good group of friends and studies at university doing a course he loves. I wish I could just shake him and say ‘everything is okay!’ but that is not how it works. Depression is a mental illness and it affects many more young people than just Patrick.

According to Beyond Blue, Australia’s national depression initiative, depression is one of the most common of all mental health problems with one in five people suffering from it in some stage in their lives.¹ Not only this but everyone will at some time be affected by depression – their own or someone else’s, according to Australian Government statistics.

Young people are the worse off. Suicide is widespread among Generation Y. Why are these young men and women taking their lives when they have hardly even started them? And why hasn’t anyone stopped it?

Education and help must be available to Generation Y to help save them. Not only to those suffering but all of Generation Y who as loved ones have the opportunity to stop someone they know becoming a statistic. My friend Patrick is receiving help but what if I had known how to help? Could his situation have been different? It was almost too late for him, let’s not let it be too late for anyone else.

1. www.beyondblue.org.au

Mega Nindya, Social Science Assistant

Written by Mega Nindya, Social Science Assistant, Utopia Research Institute

“In 2005, suicide accounted for 299 deaths of young people—a rate of 8 per 100,000 young people… hanging, strangulation and suffocation were the major methods of suicide among young people—accounting for two-thirds of suicide deaths (199 deaths). Self-poisoning accounted for 12% of suicide deaths” (AIHW 2008, pp 29-30). ((Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2008) Retrieved 30th November 2010 from http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/aus/bulletin60/bulletin60.pdf))

Needless for me to emphasise the figures above is far from comforting.

One main overarching factor that I’ve learnt in social work is to look at the issue/client in a holistic framework. That is, not just focus on mental health, social life, family life, economic contribution or lack of or even biological make up but look at these factors as equal players in one’s life.

In other words, the issue of suicide cannot be viewed in a vacuum but rather it is a far more complex issue.

Through the eyes of a Gen Y, there are a vast number of determinants which have the potential to contribute to take one to the thought of leaping from the edge of the cliff as one’s only option.

It is when the level of pain is much higher than one’s coping resources, one of which is social support. Perhaps calling everyone on one’s Facebook friends list at least once a week is not the least practical but keeping a lookout for a handful of friends is much more manageable.

I believe in doing little things rather than one extravagant big action. So, keeping a looking could be in the form of a g’day text message, an email or just a phone call to ask how they are going. I am not saying that one should see every friend as a suicide victim. I am not saying that every suicide victim did not have a friend. But I think keeping in regular contact with one’s friends and keeping a lookout for each other is not only the best prevention but it is also a part of being a good friend. Most of the time the problem is much bigger than we can imagine after all suicide is a complex issue and as a mere friend we cannot fix every single problem that our friends have.

But we do have two ears and one mouth.

That is, we should listen twice as much than we speak and I don’t think it’ll hurt to shut our gabs for a moment and lend a friend an ear. Sometimes what could help is to just listen and acknowledge that they are going through a rough time, hard day at work or to hear how great their day was.

For those who wish to be able to do more at a time a friend expressing suicidal thoughts, it is also useful to educate oneself about suicide.

Diana Bello, Sponsorship Assistant

Written by Diana Bello, Sponsorship Assistant

The suicide has become a relevant issue nowadays. We all are concerned about this topic but only few of us know how to deal with this situation, how to overcome it, and what the main causes are.

Youth suicide is a very important and emotional subject. Most people do not realise that the highest rates of suicide actually occur among men in their thirties.¹ There is one suicide for every 100-200 attempts and a youth suicide, between 15 and 24 years, occurs every 100 minutes.²

“Suicide is a particular awful way to die: the mental suffering leading up to its usually prolonged, intense and unpalliated”.³ Suicide is presented not only during childhood but also in old age, and during the interval grows steadily age to age.⁴

Over 90 percent of people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death, and the mutual mental illness is depression. Depression in a young person is generated by experiences which are not positive. These include examples such as alcohol or drugs abuse, someone´s death, divorce of parents, being ridiculed or bullied by classmates or friends as well as many others.

As a result, when this type of illness is not treated in due course people’s overall life satisfaction is detrimentally affected.  Suicide, most of the times is the quickest solution for all the problems that people have. When people are in troubles life turns into a black tunnel, happiness is at the end of everything and help from others is null. Why? Because each person is seen to be responsible for their future and has to make their way through difficulties and problems that cannot often be resolved alone.

Loneliness and the desire to be in control of everything are factors considered in the first stage of this situation.

However, we are not the absolute owners of our lives, we depend on someone else and the purpose to be in this particular world is finally to complete our mission by interacting with individuals around us.

Youth suicide behavior could be reduced by promoting positive mental health. Therefore, parents and teachers should build solid and strong communication with children as well as improving relationships in order to gain confidence from them, advising them when is necessary and giving a space to share with others.

Thus, Gen Y will gain confidence in themselves, and will feel free to ask for help. They will also have a new way to look at their lives and their future.

1. http://responseability.org
2. http://suicide.org
3. Jamison, Redfield, Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide. 2000
4. Durkeim, 1897

Shaheena Anvar, Journalism Director

Written by Shaheena Anvar, Director of Journalism, Utopia Research Institute

There is only one word to describe mental health services for Indigenous Australians- appalling.

No- actually there are several words. Any synonym for appalling will do.

It’s funny how there is so much talk about getting Indigenous Australians more involved in society, especially ever since former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generation in February of 2008.

Yet…what has been done?

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing, the gap between the mental illness and well being of Indigenous Australians, compared to those of non-Indigenous heritage is very large.¹

Just to show how serious the situation of mental illness in Indigenous Australians really is, here are a few figures:

2004-05: approximately twice as many hospital separations of Indigenous Australians for ‘mental and behavioural disorders’ in states including Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, than would be expected, based on the rates of other Australians.²

2003-04: Approximately seven times as many hospital separations as expected for assault among Indigenous males. There was nearly 31 times as many for Indigenous females, when based on all-Australian rates. In addition to these shocking figures, there were also approximately twice as many hospital separations as usual for self-harm, for both Indigenous males AND females.

They are only a few simple figures, yet they paint a whole picture. And not a very nice picture at that. What makes this situation even worse, is that Indigenous Australians have the lowest rate of access to mental health facilities and services, compared to the wider Australian community.³

It has been way too long, that Indigenous Australians have been neglected from society. There is so much talk about inclusion from the government, yet it’s all talk and no action. Mental illness is a serious issue in itself, and it is simply not good enough to toss it aside only to realise years later that ignoring it was all a big mistake.

Geographic isolation ((http://www.mhcc.org.au/manual/ch14.aspx)) as an excuse? No. No way. In a first world country such as Australia, where many citizens gain first hand services whenever and WHEREVER they like, it does not make sense that Indigenous Australians who have occupied this beautiful land for so long, are simply left to fend for themselves. And in many cases, this means suicide.

We as a privileged society, need to stand up for those who cannot and be a voice for those who are silenced.

We need to stand by our fellow Indigenous Australians and let them know that the neglect will soon be over.

1. http://www.aihw.gov.au/indigenous/health/mental.cfm
2. http://www.aihw.gov.au/indigenous/health/mental.cfm
3. http://www.mhcc.org.au/manual/ch14.aspx

Written by Sheila Mo, HR-O Assistant

Sheila Mo, HR-O Assistant

In recent years suicide rates of generation Y has increased significantly. Why is suicide so appealing to young people?

Social networking has become an everyday essential of the lives of Generation Y. Facebook and Twitter have become social essentials.

In 2008, a suicide craze started in Britain among social networking sites. It was revealed that the suicide cases were related to each other. British authorities suggested that suicides like these occur as participants enjoy the “prestige” and fame given to them on memorial sites and tribute sites set up within the social networking sites. These memorial pages are usually put in obvious places of the social networking site, and are decorated to be easily noticed.

This is especially appealing for people who feel lonely, rejected and depressed. By this, these people hope to achieve a kind of status.

The internet, now being everyday essential, plays an important role in suicide cases. It is believed that social networking sites encourage transient relationships.

Teens who feel lonely and depressed lean towards such sites to find comfort and friends. It is an anonymous world, you can be who you want. It is an escape from reality.

However, when these transient relationships break down, this can drive teens to commit suicide. Victims who feel lonely, depressed and rejected are more vulnerable to such action. In addition, the anonymity provided by cyberspace bullies a medium where they could start and attract suicidal victims. It is easy to be nasty to someone online without knowing the other person.

However, by doing so can also encourage Gen Y to commit suicide.

Looking back, is suicide a way to fame? No. Is it worth losing the most important thing you have in your lives? By being dependent on such sites will only make you more vulnerable to cyber bullies. Ask yourself, why be vulnerable to bullies? To stop such a trend, it is crucial that we be listeners who are prepared to listen, and speak up.

Talk to friends and family members. They are here to help solve your problems. Suicide is mostly caused by depression so if symptoms such as aggression, insomnia, change in eating habits and isolation are noted, seek medical help and advice.

Do act before it is too late!

Without a doubt, Gen Y is known as the best protected and provided for generation among baby boomers and Gen X. To others, we are only known as irresponsible and reckless. It is time for us to stand up.

References:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1576338/Police-fear-internet-cult-inspires-teen-suicides.html
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=371672

Written by Collette Martin, HR- Placement Senior Executive

Collette Martin, HR- Placement Senior Executive

Mental health is described as a change in the level of mental stability and emotional well-being. However this broad definition maybe one of the main reasons why the public choose to ignore and not delve into its core issues. “Mental Health is the embodiment of social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. It provides individuals with the vitality necessary for active living, to achieve goals, and to interact with one another in ways that are respectful and just.”¹ Within the findings for this topic I shall include some personal experiences, and highlight the reason for action against this epidemic that may very soon shake the foundations of economics and society as we know it.

About a month ago, I was taken to Westmead Emergency after being hit by a car. In the ward there was a girl next to me, of similar age, who was admitted because she was attempting to commit suicide and was suffering from anorexia. Throughout the night, this case was a frequent visit with the medical staff by the constant screaming of wails and screeches. The staff had to retain her to her bed and sedate her as she was trying to physically attack them and herself. Unfortunately this is a common scenario that many Emergency Departments increasingly have to handle.

Although the hospital costs alone is well into the thousands what about the girl? Is sedation and medication to ‘calm’ her emotions really the best clinical treatment? Is the government spending on medication that is only a ‘band-aid’ fix just to make her ‘stable’ enough to get her out of the hospital quickly?

Mental illness has the potential to affect every area of an individual’s life. ‘Waking up on the wrong side of bed’ is a common expression for not being in the right state of mind that is contributing to a rough day. However suffering a mental illness affects relationships and the way a person is able to perform and work.

I’ve seen the first hand effects of how it can tear families apart, take a person from a high managerial position to unemployment and homelessness. In 2006, it was “estimated that the total annual cost of mental illness in Australia is approximately $20 billion, which includes the costs from loss of productivity and participation in the workforce”¹.

Additionally the debilitating affect of mental illness and emotional stress on the body’s composition have proven relations to decrease physical health and lead to further diseases.

When an individual has positive mental health, astoundingly they are able to overcome even some of the greatest diseases like cancer. There is great power in what the mind can achieve. Similarly when there is a support system to encourage an individual to overcome. These are some longing fundamentals of human aspiration that is food to the soul.

I truly believe that if the government would shift their focus from an economical point of view to actually deal with the reasons behind their economic loss, that not only would this drive economic profit for the country even more in the long term but a benefit to the society, community, health, mental well-being and even spiritual; that is every aspect to an individual.

May the government return to the state where they actually care about the people of their country and their needs with relevance to the issues that has the potential to be a gripping reality for every individual- young and old.

After all, although money may make the world go round, who generates the money?

1. VicHealth (2007) Research Summary 1: Burden of Health, Mental Health & Wellbeing Unit, Victoria Government, Australia
   <http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/~/media/ProgramsandProjects/MentalHealthandWellBeing/Publications/Attachments/Research%20Summ%20BOD_FINAL_Web.ashx>