Australian’s aged 18-85 experiencing a mental health disorder in their lifetime.
Continuing to look at Australia’s Health 2016, this post will focus on the mental health of Australians as a major health topic and one of our priority health issues for HSC PDHPE. Australia’s Health 2016 indicates that almost half of Australians will experience one of the more common mental health disorders between the ages of 18 and 85. These mental health disorders are:
- Depression,
- Anxiety, and
- A substance use disorder
In addition to the high rate of mental health disorders amongst 18-85 year olds, mental health is a major cause of disease burden amongst our children and young people between 4 and 17 years of age. 14% of these children and young people reported having struggled with a mental disorder in the last 12 months. Common disorders among the young include:
- Attention deficit disorders (ADD/ADHD)
- Anxiety, and
- Depression
One of our more alarming statistics relates to suicidal thoughts. Australia’s Health 2016 reports that over 13% of people aged 16-85 years have had suicidal thoughts in the last 12 months and over 3% have attempted suicide. Among young people aged 15-24 suicide is the leading cause of death (higher than transport accidents). The rates of suicide in these young people has been stable now for 15 years, despite efforts to decrease the incidence. This means that health promotions focused on this area have only been preventing a rise in rates, not producing a decrease.
Even more alarming is that the rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people is more than double that of other Australians. This statistic highlights the burden felt by ATSI people who continue to be segregated in Australian society. Mental health is a major issue among ATSI people and should be considered in any analysis of their health status. Furthermore, as a country we need further reflection upon why this gap in ATSI health exists and what can be done to “Close the Gap”.
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