Burden of disease
Mental health affects not just the individual but also the wider community. The total burden of a disease on a population can be defined as the combined loss of years of healthy life due to premature death (known as fatal burden) and living with ill health (known as non-fatal burden). Mental and substance use disorders contributed 12% of Australia’s total burden of disease in 2015, making it the fourth highest disease group contributing to total burden. Of the total burden caused by mental and substance use disorders, 98% was due to living with the effects of these disorders (AIHW 2019). Mental and substance use disorders were the second highest disease group contributing to non-fatal burden (23%) after the first-ranked musculoskeletal conditions (25%). See Burden of disease.
Indigenous Australians
There is a substantial difference in the burden of mental health on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians compared with non-Indigenous Australians. In 2011, the years of healthy life lost per 1,000 people due to mental and substance use disorders among Indigenous Australians was 2.4 times the rate for non-Indigenous Australians (57.8 compared with 23.6) (AIHW 2016). See Indigenous health and wellbeing.
Suicidality
For individuals who have a mental illness, suicidality—a term that encompasses suicide plans, attempts and ideation—is more prevalent than for those who have no mental illness. According to the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing in 2007, almost 1 in 12 (8.6%) people with 12-month mental disorders reported being suicidal in the 12 months prior to the survey; 0.8% of people without a 12-month mental disorder reported suicidality in that same period (Slade et al. 2009). Overall, 72% of people who exhibited suicidality had a 12-month mental disorder (ABS 2008). See Suicide and intentional self harm for more information on suicide in Australia.
Comorbidity
A person may also have more than 1 type of condition at a time. The 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing estimated that 3.2% of Australians aged 16–85 had experienced more than 1 mental disorder in the previous 12 months, and 11.7% had experienced a mental disorder and a physical condition in the previous 12 months (ABS 2008). See Physical health of people with mental illness for more information.
See Mental health services for more information on mental health treatment and management in Australia.
For more information on mental health, see:
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References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2008. National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: summary of results, 2007. ABS cat. no. 4326.0. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2018. National Health Survey: first results, 2017–18. ABS cat. no. 4364.0.55.001. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2019. Forward work program, 2019–20. ABS cat. no. 1006.0. Canberra: ABS.
AHHA (The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association) 2019. Investment in health surveys, mental health and prevention money well spent. AHHA. Viewed 9 October 2019.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2016. Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness and death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2011. Cat. no. BOD 7. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2019. Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness and death in Australia 2015. Cat. no. BOD 22. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2020. Mental health services in Australia. Canberra: AIHW.
COAG (Council of Australian Governments) Health Council 2017. The Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan. Canberra: Department of Health.
Lawrence D, Johnson S, Hafekost J, Boterhoven de Haan K, Sawyer M, Ainley J et al. 2015. The mental health of children and adolescents: report on the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Canberra: Department of Health.
Morgan VA, Waterreus A, Jablensky A, Mackinnon A, McGrath JJ, Carr V et al. 2011. People living with psychotic illness 2010: report of the second Australian National Survey. Canberra: Department of Health.
Slade T, Johnston A, Teesson M, Whiteford H, Burgess P, Pirkis J et al. 2009. The mental health of Australians 2: report on the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Canberra: Department of Health and Ageing.
WHO (World Health Organization) 2013. Mental health action plan 2013–2020. Geneva: WHO.