Mental Health and Illness in Australia: Some Contemporary Facts and Figures

บทคัดย่อ

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Kimoon’smessage on last year’s World Mental HealthDay was: “There is no health without mental health.”Inthis Editorial I will focus on the state of play for globalmental health, then consider some contemporaryAustralian facts, figures and trends.

Last year saw more than its fair share of disasters:flooding in Thailand and Australia, earthquakes inJapan and New Zealand and famine in Somalia, as wellas ongoing conflicts across the globe. Long-lastingeffects after physical scars fade and cleanups finish canresult in mental trauma even for those not directlyaffected by a disaster1. Adding to these the globaleconomic crisis, the risks for mental ill-health arerising around the globe2. Mental health problems areresponsible for an estimated 13% of the global diseaseburden. Mental disorders including anxiety anddepression are common; they are major contributors toillness and premature death, and are under-treated inmany developed and developing countries.