Luke Grants is joined by Professor Patrick McGorry, Executive Director of Orygen, Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne & and a Founding Director of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation (headspace), regarding calls for an urgent consideration of covid-related mental health challenges, ahead of an expected federal government announcement of a suite of healthcare funding on today.

 

Preliminary modelling by the Brain and Mind Centre suggests the COVID-19 pandemic may give rise to 25 per cent more suicides, with up to 30 per cent of those among young people aged 15-25 years.

 

This could see a situation where between an extra 750 and 1500 more suicides may occur annually in addition to the 3000 plus lives that are lost to suicide already every year.