Premature treatment helps youth mental illness

The study shows anxiety and misery are the leading cause of disability in young people, affecting 27 per cent of women aged 20 to 24 and 17 per cent of men in the same age range. Professor George Patton from the Murdoch Children's Institute says the rate of Mental illness increases considerably between puberty and young maturity.

Professor Patton says early handling could make a difference. "I think we have increasing evidence that if you intervene with a Mental disorder at an earlier point, that's got to be good," he said. "If you take something like anorexia nervosa... if you intervene effectively, that can make a huge difference to the result of that disorder five years down the line."