New reports were published this morning by the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use. They showed that one-fifth of students in year seven and eight had moderate to severe depression symptoms, leading to a risk of future vape use.
The findings were published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry with more than 5,000 students in schools across New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia surveyed as part of the OurFutures vaping prevention program. The study led by the University of Sydney asked questions on vaping and drug use.
One-third of the study group reported having poor wellbeing, high stress levels and anxiety. University of Sydney associate professor Emily Stockings said that those suffering from symptoms of severe depression were more likely to use e-cigarettes.
“For those who had low wellbeing, they were 100 per cent more likely to vape and those with high stress were 74 per cent more likely to vape,” she said.
Stockings said it was clear to see why teens were enticed by vaping with nicotine posing a high risk of addiction.
“Nicotine is an incredibly effective drug on the brain … once it’s in the bloodstream it hits your brain within seconds,” she said.
“It gives you this combined feeling of reduced anxiety … but also a little bit of a buzz because of the stimulant effect.”
Associate professor at the University of Melbourne Michelle Jongenelis said the results suggested a strong need for early mental health support for members of our youth.
“It’s a critical period for development [when] they have just started high school,” she said. “We need to do a better job of supporting them so that they don’t turn to vapes to help with their anxiety or stress or depression.”
There will be another study in three years to measure the effects of vaping intervention on the improvement of teenagers mental health.
If you or anybody you know needs support, please contact the following organisations:
Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au
Photo: Vaping THC by Elsa Olofsson is available HERE and is used under a Creative Commons Licence. This image has not been modified.
