Mental wellbeing

We know that emotional and mental health are also really important factors when it comes to finishing Grade 12 and the huge change that you're going to go through.

We would really encourage that you think about those things, recognise that if you're coming to Schoolies on the Gold Coast, it's a really overwhelming environment.

First time away from home potentially, first time away from mum and dad potentially, and a week of being with your friends around the clock 24/7. That in its own, can be stressful for a young person but when we add potential mental health concerns or mental illness on top of that it can be even more confronting, and it can be really difficult for the young person to manage.

So our advice really is to plan and to plan well, and to be really transparent with your planning - so to put preparations in place with mum and dad or your guardians, or whoever you may live with and whoever's, whichever primary healthcare providers providing you that support and service so if that's your GP, if that's Headspace, if that's your school counsellor, whoever it may be, have the conversation early with them and say "I'm heading to Schoolies. I'm going to be there for a week. What are your tips"?

So, the key kind of things are around sleep, are around your nutrition and around medication.

So those three things, we have found over the years at Schoolies have been probably the three highest risk issues in that when young people don't get enough sleep, when they don't eat well, even in the absence of mental health problems, that can become quite destabilising for people.

So, a lot of medications that young people take are not medications that you can just stop suddenly.

So basic things like getting your scripts filled, making sure you've got a good supply, talking to your chemist or your pharmacist or your GP around interactions with medications. So, things to avoid you know, substances, alcohol, things that will interact with medications and what some of those interactions may look like.

Schoolies can be a higher risk time for illicit drug use for some young people, particularly around the interaction of substance use and mental health.

There is a really strong link in terms of symptoms.

A young person that may have used substances may find that the symptoms that they experience are amplified really significantly, so some, if a young person is feeling a little bit low, a bit tired, a bit sad, if they were to use substances they're going to find that those symptoms are intensified very quickly.

Same as if a young person is feeling quite anxious or quite angry, again, we're going to see an amplification in those symptoms as a response of the substance use.

But it's really important for young people in that situation to be really conscious and aware of what supports are available, and making sure they don't put themselves in situations that they're potentially going to be quite vulnerable, and that they are able to look out for their friends and that if they have concerns around the interaction or the behaviour that one of their friends perhaps is displaying, that they bring them to the medical tent and they seek our opinion our advice rather than trying to manage it back in the hotel rooms on their own or out on the beach on their own, where they're potentially going to be at risk, that they bring them to us and that they'll let us provide that support that they need.

If it suddenly hits you that you've finished school and you're sort of overwhelmed with sadness about that, talk to your friends and if that doesn't help, find help together. Go and ask one of the volunteers where you could go for that. Just recognise that that it is a really full-on emotional period and that can affect your mental health as well and it's important to feel comfortable talking about that and to seek help if you need to.