In their lifetimes, about one in five Australians will experience depression. Around the world, depression affects around 300 million people.
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).
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). Depression is about 50% more common among women than among men.
In Australia, approximately 14% of 4 to 17 year olds experience a mental health problem each year, amounting to 560,000 Australian children and adolescents in any one year, with 278,000 and 112,000 experiencing anxiety and depression disorders, respectively [1].
World Health Organization global study
The United States, Colombia, the Netherlands and Ukraine tended to have higher prevalence estimates across most classes of disorder, while Nigeria, Shanghai and Italy were consistently low, and prevalence was lower in Asian countries in general.
Mental illness in Australia
Mental illness is very common. One in five (20%) Australians aged 16-85 experience a mental illness in any year. The most common mental illnesses are depressive, anxiety and substance use disorder. These three types of mental illnesses often occur in combination.
From those who were surveyed, public and private transit showed the highest at 16.2% of workers suffering depression, followed by real estate (15.7%), social services (14.6%), manufacturing (14.3%), and personal services (14.3%).
Drug and alcohol use can lead to depression. Many people with depression also have drug and alcohol problems. Over 500,000 Australians will experience depression and a substance use disorder at the same time, at some point in their lives.
Young and Midlife Adults
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.
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.
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.
You can have depression regardless of how much money you have or make. Although money makes some aspects of life easier, there are other factors that play into mental health and well-being. The wealthy can get depressed the same way people living in poverty can experience depression.
From psychologists who have treated the very high-functioning C-suite types over the years, the consensus seems to be that this group is indeed more prone to major depression – for a variety of reasons – than people of other socioeconomic strata.
Depression. Impacting an estimated 300 million people, depression is the most-common mental disorder and generally affects women more often than men.
Anxiety is a serious condition that makes it hard for a person to cope with daily life. 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.
Age group: Young adults ages 18 to 25 in the U.S have the highest rate of experiencing mental health conditions (30.6%), followed by those ages 26 to 49 (25.3%) and adults ages 50 and over (14.5%).
Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPDs) become overwhelmed and incapacitated by the intensity of their emotions, whether it is joy and elation or depression, anxiety, and rage. They are unable to manage these intense emotions.
50% of mental illness begins by age 14, and 3/4 begin by age 24.
Sociologists who measure anxiety levels of entire nations have concluded that the US is, by far, the most anxious nation on Earth. About one in three Americans can be expected to suffer anxiety at some point in their lifetime, compared with one in four Colombians, who occupy the second world-anxiety slot.