Prevalence of Mental Illness in the general population

[Jake]

Hello Administrators,

Would someone be able to confirm the actual prevalence of mental illness in the general population please?

My counsellor was questioning my assertion -  I read that 1 in 5 (that is 20% isn't it?) people in the general population will suffer from a mental illness in any 12 month period.

She (I believe mistakenly?) stated that the 1 in 5 statistic was for a lifetime, but my understanding is that it is for any 1 year period and that this figure actually rises to almost 1 in 2 (47%) of the general population in any given lifetime!

We were discussing the numbers relating to undiagnosed mental illness - how does anyone know the prevalence? For every diagnosis, how many go undiagnosed?

My specific question is then: - Do these statistics (if they are indeed correct) reflect only 1) Clinically diagnosed - 2) Clinically diagnosed and undiagnosed, or 3) Both groups?

Thanks Ladies & Gentlemen,

Regards, Jake

[NikNik]

Hey Jake,

Those stats you have quoted are from the an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report. You can get a summary from the ABS website  I have linked that to the press release, but on the left hand  side you can find the full report.

I'm always cautious about quoting stats, because they get thrown around so much, and sometimes the  context is missed or left out. Your question is such a good one! The different between a "lifetime" and a "year" is huge!

I hope you find the link useful - it seems to support your view.

Nik

[kenny66]

Hi Jake, both my psych and the mental health doctors at the public hospital use exactly those figures.

kenny

[Jake]

Hi Kenny,

Thanks, I thought those figures were accurate, my GP thought those figures were wrong. I'd actually like to know if it is possible to obtain the level of undiagnosed mental illness in the general population?

I know quite a few people that have what would be described as dysfunctional  behaviours, but they would never present for clinical analysis, so never get a 'label'.

Can anyone please confirm if those ABS figures are 'across' the general population?

Thanks

Regards, Jake

[kenny66]

Hi Jake

I belonged to an American Schizophrenic support group which talked a lot about those figures, diagnosed, undiagnosed etc etc etc. which talked a lot about incidence in the general population, which should be the same as in Australia. Unfortunately I lost contact with it whern I became hospitalised for so long and got the whole damaged cognitive memory thing post episode. Anyway I will go through my old computer to see if I can pick up the name. I googled Shizophrenia groups in the US but I didnt recognise any of them. Hopefully its still in existance.  As for the ABS figures, if it was me, I would ring one of the policy officers at the ABS to see if one of them can explain the methodology and outcomes to you. Worth a shot. Good luck.

Kenny

[NikNik]

Hi Jake,

I'm not sure about undiagnosed numbers unfortunately.

In terms of the 1 in 5 - the way they come to that conclusion is based on the 2007 ABS survey. The survey collected information from approximately 8,800 Australians aged 16-85 years.

It's interesting stuff how they collect the data and come up with these stats.

Nik

[Jake]

Hi Nik,

I forgot to thank you for the ABS data (thanks) I did wonder though about the currency of a 7 year old survey, but I guess it stands until the next survey.
I wonder what percentage of those 8,800 had a clinical diagnosis/es versus those that did not (at the time of the survey)?

Regards, Jake

[Jake]

Hi Nik,

Found this interesting article, which seems to confirm my viewpoint, it's a bit of an eye opener though:

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/04/diagnostic_and_statistical...

Regards, Jake

[CherryBomb]

Heya Jake,

Just letting you know that Nik's not on tonight, which is why she has not yet responded, but she will when she's on next on Tuesday.

CB

[Jake]

Hi CB,

No worries, thanks for letting me know.

Regards, Jake

p.s. our friendly Spell Check has no sense of humour - it has 25 alternatives for Heya  & (Lol!)