4840.0.55.001 - Mental Health of Young People, 2007
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 19/07/2010 First Issue
Page tools: Print Page Print All | ||||||
|
In 2007, approximately three-quarters (76%) of all young people assessed their own mental health as excellent or very good. However, around one-quarter of all young people had a mental disorder* in the previous year (approximately 26% or 671,000 young people). The rate of mental disorders for people living in private dwellings gradually decreased from 26% in the 16-24 years age group to 22% in the 45-54 years age group, after which it declined more rapidly to 6% of those aged 75-85 years (as shown in Graph 1.1). Around one-quarter of people with a mental disorder in each age group had a severe level of impairment associated with their disorder, with the remainder having a mild or moderate level. (a) People aged 16-85 years who met criteria for diagnosis of a lifetime mental disorder and had symptoms in the 12 months prior to interview. (b) A person may have had more than one disorder. The SMHWB focused on three main groups of disorders: Anxiety, Affective and Substance Use. The rates of each of these disorders differed with age. The rate of Anxiety disorders (15%) and Affective disorders (6%) for young people increased slightly to 18% and 8% respectively for those aged 35-44, after which rates declined in older age groups. The rate of Substance Use disorders, however, was highest in young people aged 16-24 years (13%) after which the rate dropped steadily to around 1% of people aged 65-85 years (as shown in Graph 1.2). (a) People aged 16-85 years who met criteria for diagnosis of a lifetime mental disorder and had symptoms in the 12 months prior to interview. (b) A person may have had more than one mental disorder. Young people were more likely to have Anxiety disorders (15%) and Substance Use disorders (13%) than Affective disorders (6%). Young women were more likely than young men to have had any mental disorder in the year prior to the interview (374,800 or 30% compared with 296,300 or 23% respectively). Young women were also around twice as likely as young men to have an Affective disorder (8% compared with 4%) or an Anxiety disorder (22% compared with 9%). Substance Use disorders, involving Harmful Use of, or Dependency on, alcohol or other drugs, were more common in young men (16%) than in young women (10%) (as shown in Graph 1.3). (a) People aged 16–24 years who met criteria for diagnosis of a lifetime mental^disorder and had symptoms in the 12 months prior to interview. (b) A person may have more than one mental disorder. The components when^added may therefore not add to the total shown. The most common Anxiety disorder among young people was Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (8%). This disorder arises as a delayed response to a distressing event that is outside the range of usual human experience (4), for example, combat experience, a life-threatening accident, or an unexpected death of someone very close. Among young people, the most common Substance Use disorder was Harmful Use of Alcohol (9%). Harmful Use is a pattern of use that is responsible for (or substantially contributes to) physical or psychological harm, including impaired judgement or dysfunctional behaviour (4).
*This article focuses on young people who met criteria for a diagnosis of a lifetime mental disorder and who experienced symptoms in the 12 months prior to the survey. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
|