Year 10 Bible Assessment Task 4 | Duyen Duong

Year 10 Bible
Assessment Task
4
Topic: Living in the Waiting
Date Due: 25th of November 2016
Task: Part 1
Choose one of the following seven options and create a visual multimedia
presentation that is detailed and includes images, videos etc. Your presentation
should be broken up into the following areas:
-

Identify the statistical concerns/societal costs of the topic

Show the human interest side of the topic (this could be well known people
who have been adversely affected or even people you know)
Show Biblical principles to help guide your behaviour in this area
The Seven Topics are as follows:
o Image and Fashion
o Drug Usage and Binge Drinking
o Sexual Activity and Pornography
o The Music Industry and its impact
o Mental Health, Suicide and Depression
o Electronic Relationships and Social Media
o The Effects of Movies, Television, and Computer Games.

Year 10 Bible Assessment Task 4 | Duyen Duong

Mental Health, Suicide,

and Depression
Mental Health

Every year, one in five Australians experience a certain mental illness. It is the third
leading cause of burden disability in Australia, responsible for an approximate of
27%of the total years lost due to disability. About 4% of people will go through a 12month period of major depression, consisting of 5% of women and 3% of men
affected. As many as 14% of Australians will be affected by anxiety disorder for 12
months. 3% of Australians are affected by a psychotic mental disorder such as
schizophrenia. 2% of Australians will experience some sort of eating disorder in their
lifetime, with women nine times more likely than men to do so. The statistics of
people affected are seen to be decreasing with age, with the largest group of people
experiencing some sort of mental disorder to be from the age of 18 to 24 years old.
Women are more likely to seek help than men when being affected with an anxiety
disorder; 18% to 11% respectively and with regards to mood disorders, it is 7.1% to
5.3% respectively. A survey showed that 35% of people with a mental disorder used
a health hotline and 29% contacted with their General Practitioner within 12 months
of the survey.
It is shown that nearly 50% of adults go through a mental disorder at some point
in their lives. More than half of these people experience variations of moderate to
severe symptoms. Four of the ten leading causes of disability among children ages
five and older care mental health disorders, with depression being the leading cause
of all illnesses that cause severe disability. Despite the high number of people
suffering from a mental illness, only 20% of those people actually go to seek
professional help.
Though there has been an outburst of advancements in the area of
understanding and treatment of mental illnesses, the stigma surrounding those
affected is still visible. People with mental illnesses are usually blamed for their own
problems or a viewed as lazy or incompetent. Mental illnesses can be viewed as less
real than a physical illness such as cancer, arthritis etc. therefore; leading to the
reluctance of insurance companies to pay for treatment. But, through the spreading
knowledge of how much mental illnesses affects health care costs, social lives, work
lives, the trend of insurance companies and policy makers have changed and more
and more companies are looking into this factor.
As of now, mental illnesses are thought to be caused by a complex number of
common and environmental factors. Scientists have been able to prove that
hereditary plays a vital role in a persons mental health. The persons relationships
with others have also been shown to play a tremendously large factor on their
mental wellbeing.

Year 10 Bible Assessment Task 4 | Duyen Duong

Suicide

Suicide is the main leading cause of death in Australia for people aged between 15
to 44. On average, around 25,000 people die per year in Australia because of
suicide. For every suicidal case, there is an effect on not only their families and
friends but also their colleagues (depending on whether or not theyre working) and
the wider community.
Suicidal thoughts usually start off with the action of self-harming; which is a
simple way to express pain. Though it is not the case for everyone with either
depression or anxiety (possibly both), it is important to be aware that there are
people that believe pain is the only way out of their problems or their only option is
to relieve unbearable pain.
Suicide attempts are clear indicators of a severe
problem in a persons life. The race, gender and
age of the person does not matter when it comes
to the topic of suicide. Most people who suicide
have either a mental or emotional disorder. The
most common mental disorder is depression, with
30%-70% of suicide victims suffering from major
depression or bipolar disorder.

Depression
Depression is the leading mental illness that
affected humans today. In a year, about one million
Australian adults experience depression, and over two million have anxiety. In
Australia, it is estimated that 45% of adults will go through the phase of depression
in their lifetime. Depression is not just a mood swing but it affects the individuals
physical and mental health on a negative scale.
Behaviors of those affected with depression include;
-

Not going out with friends or family anymore

Not getting necessary work done at school or their workplace
Withdrawal from family and friends
Building reliance on drugs and sedatives
Skipping out on usual activities
Unable to concentrate on work

Feelings and thought patterns of those affected with depression;

-

Guilty Everything is my fault

Lacking in confidence Im a failure
Frustrated Nothing good ever happens to me
Sad People will be better off with me dead
Indecisive Lifes not worth living

Physical traits of those affected with depression

-

Restless all the time

Sick and run down

Year 10 Bible Assessment Task 4 | Duyen Duong

-

Headaches and muscle pain

Sleep problems, insomnia
Significant loss or gain in weight

Human Interest The Story of Chris

I hope that by sharing my story, I can show that there is hope and that it is possible
to achieve amazing things, even when living with depression. Chris, Beyond Blue
Chris is an adult who has suffered from depression from the age of 15 until 51.
He has been in the sober stage for over 31 months. For about 30 years he was a civil
engineer but lost his job over medical grounds in 2014 while he was in rehabilitation.
Then he found out that his hips had to be replaced because of osteoarthritis.
He then completed in many activities that improved his health such as the
CBR100 Challenge (100km walk around Canberra). He completed the task in 27
hours and 16 minutes. Chris did so to raise money for beyondblue. He also
participated in other events such as The Canberra Times 10km run and The Sydney
to the Gong Bike a Ride in November.
I have created a group which is aimed at getting persons with lived experience (or
their careers) involved in exercise. I have found that exercise has been my default
recovery mechanism since my teens and was important during my time in rehab.
Chris comments on the beyondblue webpage.

Bible Verses
1. Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
a. Jesus is our refuge who wants to take us in under his wing. When he
died for us he took our sins along with him.
2. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I
give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John
14:27
a. Jesus presence gives us a sense of security because demons cannot be
in His presence.
3. For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2
Timothy 1:7
4. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
5. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious
itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34
6. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is
life and peace. Romans 8:6
7. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing
with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18

Reference List
1. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/connect-with-others/personalstories/story/chris-(bluevoices-member)
2. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts
3. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/depression

Year 10 Bible Assessment Task 4 | Duyen Duong

4. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/depression/signs-and-symptoms
5. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/depression/types-of-depression
6. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/suicide-prevention/worried-aboutsuicide/what-are-the-warning-signs
7. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/get-immediate-support
8. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/suicide-prevention
9. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/suicide
10. http://www.mindframe-media.info/for-mental-health-and-suicideprevention/talking-to-media-about-mental-illness/facts-and-stats