Mental health data book

The Health of the people of New South Wales
Report of the Chief Health Officer

In 2007 in NSW, around 12% of adults (11% of males and 13% of females) reported high or very high levels of psychological distress.
Around 3% of adults in NSW report very high levels of psychological distress and overall adults cut down on their activities in almost 1 day per month on average due to psychological distress.
Suicide rates have been dropping in NSW since 1997 but, still, 493 people died by suicide in 2006. This was 5% fewer than in the previous year. Males accounted for almost 80% of suicides in 2006.
In 2006-07, there were more than 10,000 hospitalisations of NSW residents for intentional self-harm. Females accounted for 60% of these hospitalisations.
In 2007, around 1.0% of NSW children aged 17 years or under were prescribed stimulant medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This was well below the estimated prevalence of ADHD.
In 2005, one in 6 (16.6%) high school students reported high levels of psychological distress. Out of those who experienced high psychological distress one third talked to no-one about it and another one third talked to someone but found it not at all helpful.

File link: Mental health data book
File size: &booksize
Type: Report
Date of Publication: &bookdate
Author Branch: Centre for Epidemiology & Research