In their lifetimes, about one in five Australians will experience depression. Around the world, depression affects around 300 million people.
Women are more likely to have depression than men. An estimated 3.8% of the population experience depression, including 5% of adults (4% among men and 6% among women), and 5.7% of adults older than 60 years. Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression (1).
Mental illness can vary in severity and be episodic or persistent in nature. An estimated 1 in 5 Australians experience mental illness in any given year, most of which will be mild (15% or an estimated 2.3 million Australians among the 15.3 million Australians) or moderate (7%, or an estimated 1.2 million people).
In 2017-18, almost one in five (19.1%) people had a mental or behavioural condition, which was similar to the rate observed in 2014-15 (17.8%). One in eight (12.3%) had an anxiety-related condition. This was more common among females (14.1%) than males (10.6%). These rates have remained unchanged since 2014-15.
The average age of onset for major depressive disorder is between 35 and 40 years of age. Onset in early adulthood may be linked with more depressive episodes, a longer duration of illness, and therefore a more difficult clinical course.
Interestingly, the number of mental health issues does differ from state to state. For example, Tasmania sees the highest rate of anxiety and depression -- at 21.6% and 18.1% affected respectively, while Queenslanders show the highest stress levels, with 27.5% reporting that they're regularly affected by stress.
20% or 4.8 million Australians had a mental or behavioural condition, an increase from 18% in 2014-15. 13% or 3.2 million Australians had an anxiety-related condition, an increase from 11% in 2014-15. 10% had depression or feelings of depression, an increase from 9% in 2014-15.
3 million Australians are living with anxiety. Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. 1 in 4 people will experience anxiety at some stage in their life.
halaxy.com ranked number 1 and is the most visited Mental Health website in Australia in May 2023, followed by psychologytoday.com as the runner up, and powerdiary.com ranking at 3rd place as the leaders of the Mental Health websites in Australia.
Mental illnesses can be covered by the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act. It is against the law to discriminate against a person because of their disability.
One in four adults and one in 10 children experience mental illness, and many more of us know and care for people who do.
For example, depression is more common among women than men. The median age of onset for depression is 32 years, meaning that half of people who will ever have a depressive episode will have had their first episode by this age.
Message: One in 13 people in Australia experienced depression symptoms in 2020-21. Breakdown: In 2020/21, 7.5% of people aged 16-85 years experienced an affective condition in the last 12 months. This is equivalent to 1.5 million people1. Message: One in six people in Australia experienced anxiety symptoms in 2020-21.
Mental health is a key component of overall health and wellbeing (WHO 2021). In any year in Australia, an estimated 1 in 5 people aged 16–85 will experience a mental health disorder (ABS 2022).
Canberra the 'most depressed' Australian city: Twitter study.
We take a life-course approach to mental health because good mental health begins in infancy. 20% of adolescents may experience a mental health problem in any given year. 50% of mental health problems are established by age 14 and 75% by age 24.
Clinical depression is a chronic condition, but it usually occurs in episodes, which can last several weeks or months. You'll likely have more than one episode in your lifetime. This is different from persistent depressive disorder, which is mild or moderate depression that lasts for at least two years.
Learn more about the signs of a depression relapse. Many studies also refer to degrees of depression severity — mild, moderate, and severe — as stages of the condition.
There is no cure for depression, but many different treatments are available to manage the symptoms. The symptoms of depression vary among individuals. A treatment plan that includes medical interventions, support, and lifestyle changes can enable a person to live a normal and full life with the condition.