Cries for help have gone unanswered, with new figures showing 51 per cent of all calls to Kids Helpline were left on the hook due to a lack of staff.
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The report shows that in the first six months of 2019 the children's helpline missed 71,533 calls, an increase from 2018's figures.
The number of attempts to contact Kids Helpline increased from 146,292 to 148,776 over the past 6 months, with visits to the website increasing from 552,103 to 875,280.
The helpline has been dealing with a growing number of calls from young people who suffer from mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
It's a familiar story for Griffith Suicide Prevention and Support Group president Val Woodland, who said young people were an especially vulnerable demographic.
There have been a number of suicides in Griffith so far in 2019, many of whom were young people in their 20s.
And yet Mrs Woodland said her helpline has the opposite problem to the Kids Helpline: very few young people in Griffith pick up the phone to reach out for help.
Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people aged between 15 and 24 in Australia, representing around 34 per cent of deaths.
"If they reach out before they get to that point there are some strategies to improve their situation," Mrs Woodland said.
"Prevention is far better than waiting until it's too late."
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It's not just limited to young people; Mrs Woodland said most of her callers are middle-aged people between the ages of 40 and 65.
She said most of her callers are those who are depressed or lonely, but not yet at that stage of self-harm or suicide.
It's during that crucial stage, she says, that people should seek help before it becomes unmanageable.
But Mrs Woodland says the only people she can't help are those who never reach out to anybody, which is why she's trying to get more people to open up about their mental health problems.
If you, or anyone you know, is suffering from depression or anxiety you can call Griffith Suicide Prevention and Support Group's hotline on 1300 133 911.
You can also call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or the Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800, or headspace Griffith on 6962 3277.
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Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
