Their services provide a tailored and holistic mental health support program for young people aged to 12 to 25 years of age. According to Headspace, more than 75 per cent of mental health issues develop before a person turns 25.

The Bega branch has only been in operation since December 2018, however a culmination the fact that they are a fairly new service to young people in the area, and the ongoing impacts on mental health of the pandemic have been put fourth as reasons for the increase in demand for the service.

Across Australia and the Bega Shire the service has reported an increase in disordered eating, anxiety, low mood, feeling isolated, family stress, environmental stress, and struggling with the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic

"With the way the world is at the moment young people are certainly looking for support, we do have a bit of a waitlist because the demand is really high, so I think when you hear that it is hard to access services it is probably true," said Mental health service manager at Headspace Bega, Brianna Van Leeuwen.

There have been a number of reports across the Bega Valley Shire that young people are finding access to psychologists and psychiatrists increasing difficult, with parents reporting longer wait times than ever before.

However, Van Leeuwen wanted to relay the message that their service always has ways to assist young people needing immediate support.

"We offer interim support services with our peer worker or one of our work and study support workers or with a youth care coordinator, depending on their needs."

"If young people need support and need immediate support we try and meet their needs as best we can if they can't immediately access one of our mental health clinicians here," she said.

She also wanted to highlight that the way mental health is spoken about can be really restricting for people and that psychologists and psychiatrists are not the only professionals who can assist with mental health services.

"There are other people who are not psychologists who are really skilled in delivering mental health care and are funding under Medicare to delivery mental health care but because we talk about psychologists, people can get really fixated that that's the only person they can see that might be able to support them.

"Particularly in our regional areas, we have a pretty big workforce of social workers, occupational therapists, and mental health nurses who are also really skilled and capable of supporting people," she said.

According to Headspace, the best place to start for anyone experiencing mental health concerns is always to speak to a GP who can asses their patient for a mental health treatment plan.

Ms Van Leeuwen said that two new clinicians have also just started at Headspace Bega and be able to see individuals sooner who come with a mental health care plan.

This care plan currently allows for individuals to access up to 20 sessions based on a review system between the mental health professional and GP.

The MBS (Better Access) initiative was upgraded from 10 to 20 sessions due to the pandemic by the federal government in response to on October 9 2020 and this will continue until 30 June 2022.

This means that all eligible Australians experiencing a severe or enduring mental health response to COVID-19 will be able to access additional session through the Medicare subsidised psychological therapy program.

For many parents of young people, the increase in figures for those seeking mental health treatment can be alarming, but Ms Van Leeuwen said that their service also offers support for parents or guardians.

"We really welcome parents to come and see us at Headspace, so even if their young person isn't willing or ready to get that support, we offer support for families, either with their young person or without them, so parents can certainly come and speak to us about how they can support their young people."

Headspace are offering parents throughout the Far South Coast region the opportunity to attend a free mental health education session throughout the next few weeks of August.

The sessions will be held over an online webinar and those wishing to attend are encouraged to please register via the links below.

Narooma online webinar

Date: 16 August 2021

Time: 5.30 - 6.45pm

Ulladulla online webinar

Date: 17 August 2021

Time: 12 - 1.15pm

Moruya online webinar

Date: 17 August 2021

Time: 5.30 - 6.45pm

Batemans Bay online webinar

Date: 18 August 2021

Time: 5.30 - 6.45pm

Bega online webinar

Date: 23 August 2021

Time: 5.30 - 6.45pm

Eden online webinar

Date: 24 August 2021

Time: 5.30 - 6.45pm

Lifeline 13 11 14

Headspace Bega 1800 959 844

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800