Depression and Anxiety
Depression and Anxiety: How it’s affecting Australia’s Youth.
With depression predicted to be one of the world’s largest health problems by 20201, it’s not surprising that many young Australian’s find their lives affected by depression. Although considerable advances have been made in how we understand depression in young people over the past ten years, reports show that up to 1 in 5 adolescent females and 1 in 9 adolescent males report having high levels of depressive symptoms.2 This is often connected to elevated rates of comorbidity, with depression being most likely associated with anxiety than any other disorder.3
What is Depression and Anxiety?
Depression is described as “a disturbance in mood, thought, and body characterized by varying degrees of sadness, disappointment, loneliness, hopelessness, self-doubt, and guilt.”4 While many people experience these feelings from time to time, they are generally sporadic and short lived. In the case of clinically diagnosed depression, a person can continue to be plagued with these feelings for weeks, months and even years.5 Headspace.org.au defines anxiety as a person who “experiences fear, worry or dread which; is out of proportion to the circumstances and interferes with their daily functioning”6 Upon understanding this, it is clear to see how depression and anxiety are so closely linked to each other.
How does it affect young Australians?
Figure 1, taken from The 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing shows that in any given year, 6% of young Australians aged 16-24 will experience an affective disorder (depression). Furthermore, 15% of 16-24 year olds will experience some sort of anxiety disorder.8 The report also discovered that men had nearly half the prevalence of affective disorders at 4.3% compared to women at 8.4% in the same 16-24 age group.8 Figure 1 additionally suggests as age increases, the prevalence of both anxiety and depression decreases.
With depression predicted to be one of the world’s largest health problems by 20201, it’s not surprising that many young Australian’s find their lives affected by depression. Although considerable advances have been made in how we understand depression in young people over the past ten years, reports show that up to 1 in 5 adolescent females and 1 in 9 adolescent males report having high levels of depressive symptoms.2 This is often connected to elevated rates of comorbidity, with depression being most likely associated with anxiety than any other disorder.3
What is Depression and Anxiety?
Depression is described as “a disturbance in mood, thought, and body characterized by varying degrees of sadness, disappointment, loneliness, hopelessness, self-doubt, and guilt.”4 While many people experience these feelings from time to time, they are generally sporadic and short lived. In the case of clinically diagnosed depression, a person can continue to be plagued with these feelings for weeks, months and even years.5 Headspace.org.au defines anxiety as a person who “experiences fear, worry or dread which; is out of proportion to the circumstances and interferes with their daily functioning”6 Upon understanding this, it is clear to see how depression and anxiety are so closely linked to each other.
How does it affect young Australians?
Figure 1, taken from The 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing shows that in any given year, 6% of young Australians aged 16-24 will experience an affective disorder (depression). Furthermore, 15% of 16-24 year olds will experience some sort of anxiety disorder.8 The report also discovered that men had nearly half the prevalence of affective disorders at 4.3% compared to women at 8.4% in the same 16-24 age group.8 Figure 1 additionally suggests as age increases, the prevalence of both anxiety and depression decreases.
References: 2- Beyond Blue. Depression in Young People: Summary of the Clinical Practice Guidelines [Internet]. Beyond Blue, 2012 [Cited 1st May 2014]. Available from: https://www.bspg.com.au/dam/bsg/product?client=BEYONDBLUE&prodid=BL/0890&type=file 3- Australian Government Department of Health. Profile of Depression in Australia. [Internet] Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1997 [Cited 1st May 2014]. 7- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Young Australians: Their health and wellbeing. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011.[Internet] [Cited 1st May 2014] Available from: 10- Causes of death, Australia [Internet]. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics; 2012 - . Catalogue No. 3330.0 , Causes of death: Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians ; 2012 [Cited 2nd May 2014] Available from: 19. The New Zealand Herald. John Kirwan 's depression campaign a success. The New Zealand Herald. 2010 August 6. [Cited 2nd May 2014] Available from: