1384.6 - Statistics - Tasmania, 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 04/04/2006   
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Contents >> Health >> Health conditions >> Mental health

Mental illnesses typically affect people in the most developmentally important or productive years of their life and may be incapacitating. Unlike cancer or cardiovascular disease, which mainly kill elderly people, mental illnesses are commonly of early onset and enduring, particularly if untreated or treated late.

Mental disorders fall into two main categories:

    • Anxiety disorders (e.g. panic disorder, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, generalised anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder), and
    • Affective (mood) disorders (e.g. depression, bipolar affective disorder, postnatal depression).
(Source: Bridging the Gap - Review of Mental Health Services, Tasmania, October 2004. Department of Health & Human Services)

According to the 1997 Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults Survey, some 15.0% (51,102) of people in Tasmania aged 18 years and over reported having a mental disorder in the 12-month period prior to interview.
PREVALENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS(a) - 1997
Tasmania
Australia
Number
Proportion
Number
Proportion
'000
%
'000
%
Anxiety disorders
28.6
8.4
1,299.9
9.7
Affective disorders
25.5
7.5
778.6
5.8
Total mental disorders(b)(c)
51.1
15.0
2,383.1
17.7
(a) During the 12 months prior to interview. Interviews were undertaken in May to August 1997.
(b) Includes substance abuse disorders.
(c) A person may have more than one mental disorder. The components when added may be larger than the total.
Source: ABS data available on request, Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults Survey.


According to the 2001 National Health Survey, 10.2% (47,100) of people in Tasmania had a long-term mental or behavioural problem, and some 14.0% or 48,100 Tasmanians aged 18 years and over experienced high or very high levels of psychological stress in the four weeks prior to interview. Of the 40,100 Tasmanians aged 15 years and over with a long-term mental or behavioural problem, 15,800 had an affective disorder, and 29,700 had other mental and behavioural disorders.

Some 20.3% of Tasmanians reported using medication for their mental wellbeing in the two weeks prior to interview, with 11.7% using pharmaceutical medications, 7.7% using vitamin or mineral supplements, and 5.7% using herbal or natural medications.

(Source: ABS data available on request, 2001 National Health Survey)



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