Mental Health And Suicide In Australia: Incidence, Prevalence And Socioeconomic Factors

The High Incidence and Prevalence of Mental Illnesses and Suicide in Australia

Discuss about the Developing a Social Science Perspective for Population.

The topic of this scholarly paper is mental health and suicide with a specific focus on the Australian population. Based on recent reports and empirical evidence, there is a high incidence of mental illnesses and suicide in Australia. About 45.5% of the entire population has experienced a mental disorder at a particular time in their lifetime. During the time of the study, it was found that approximately 20.0% of Australians aged between 16 and 85 years experienced a mental disorder in the last 12 months (Slade et al., 2009). The most common mental disorders in Australia are mood disorders, anxiety and substance use disorders. While women have high chances of experiencing anxiety disorders, men have high chances of experiencing substance use disorder.

Similarly, the epidemiology of suicide is worrying. In 2014, suicide was the leading cause of mortality in men aged between 25 and 44 years and women aged between 25 and 34 years (Kinchin & Doran, 2017). When compared to young women, young men have higher chances of taking their lives. Although the incidence of suicide is declining progressively, it remains a concern for young Australians, parents, health professionals and policymakers. The high prevalence of suicide is also affecting the job market. In 2014, about 903 workers committed suicide, and 2303 others harmed themselves leading to full incapacitation (Kinchin & Doran, 2017).

Mental and suicide is an important topic because it leads to significant economic loss and tends to affect some segments of the population in the community. The economic cost of suicide is estimated to be $6.73. This value insinuates that the economy is hurt by suicide substantially. The direct cost of treating and caring for persons diagnosed with mental health is high. The national spending on mental health is high. For instance, in 2010-2011, the national expenditure on mental health was up by 178% or $4.2 billion (Slade et. al., 2009). The state and territory governments spend much higher on mental health than the Australian government.

A consideration of the social demographics indicates that the rate of suicide is higher among those who are homeless, retired and unemployed compared to the other people in the population. Homeless individuals are likely to report substance use disorders and psychotic illness (Slade et al., 2009). Those who are unemployed or retired tend to experience psychological stress. This analysis indicates that mental health and suicide is an important topic in the context of Australia.

Socioeconomic Factors Contributing to Mental Illnesses and Suicide in Australia

Why do some Australians experience a high incidence of mental illnesses and suicide? The epidemiology of mental illnesses and suicide shows that some segments of the population are more susceptible than others. The paper particularly seeks to investigate the factors that result in this disparity.  

A vast literature presents diverse views to answer the issue under study in this paper. Markwick et al. (2014) did a study to determine the determinants of health for Indigenous adults in the state of Victoria in comparison to non-indigenous counterparts. They found a high prevalence of mental health illnesses such as anxiety and depression. The occurrence of mental illnesses in this population was attributed to psychosocial risks such as financial stress and food insecurity. Besides, lower socioeconomic status (SES) like being unemployed and low income was found to play a fundamental role in the occurrence of depression and anxiety. Poor housing affordability has also been found to cause mental health. One recent research pursued the hypothesis that housing affordability stress (HAS) is linked to poor mental health. The authors found that exposure to HAS caused a decline in mental health scores. In this study, men were found to be more affected mentally by exposure to HAS than women (Bentley, Baker & Mason, 2012).

Kim and Knesebeck (2015) did a systemic review to determine the health-associated risk of unemployment and job insecurity. Based on the various health outcomes studied, the lack of employment and job insecurity were strongly linked to mental health. Job insecurity was also linked to with somatic symptoms. The lack of employment and job insecurity are associated with worsening health conditions and even mortality. In fact, some individuals tend to commit suicide due to unemployment. Enticott et al. (2016) explored the relationship between mental health and remoteness and area deprivation. They discovered that individuals living in the most disadvantaged quintiles are more likely to report psychological disorder than those in the least disadvantaged quintiles. This argument is supported by Fone and colleagues, who found that income inequality is significantly linked to poor mental health (Fone et. al., 2013). On the other hand, racism and discrimination are attributable to the high incidence of suicide. Indigenous people might feel intimidated due to racism and eventually take their life. In conclusion, the literature review points to inequality amplified by social factors as the major cause of mental disorders and suicide.

Social psychology is the chosen social science discipline to critique the literature. Based on the current literature, it is evident that socioeconomic factors lead to a significant number of mental disorders. The occurrence of mental disorders in some segments of the Australian population is attributable to social psychological themes such as incomplete psychosocial development, feeling of helplessness caused by perceived lack of control and failure to get the nonmonetary benefits of employment. Erikson’s model of adult psychosocial development notes the importance of prosperous engagement within one’s work for healthy ageing. The implications of failing to achieve developmental challenges include emotional despair (Malone et. al., 2016). He hypothesised that emotional and personality development in adulthood requires that individuals believe they are making steps to better themselves by providing for their community and family. Contrarily, during unemployment, low SES or insecure job condition self-esteem is compromised resulting in anxiety and depression. The lack of employment and job loss can prompt a chain of adversity including relational and financial strain, which can result in depression and suicide. Indeed, suicide risk is closely linked to unemployment as well as lack of job security (Woo & Postolache, 2008). When a person is unable to secure meaningful work, they tend to feel helplessness due to the lack of influence. In the line of this view, constant helplessness can result in depression.

Literature Review on Mental Health and Suicide in Australia

In the literature review, loss of employment has been outlined as one of the triggers of mental disorders because it is socially and psychologically destructive. The social and psychological response to stressful events, such as loss of employment progresses through various stages. The initial stage is characterised by shock, and at this stage, the person is still optimistic. In the progression of unemployment, the person becomes pessimistic and experiences active distress. An elevated level of frustration, depression, disappointment and anxiety eventually leads to poor mental health. Further, subjective social status is positively associated with mental disorders. Subjective social status can be viewed in terms of relative deprivation (McLaughlin et. al., 2012). A person can be better off or worse compared to others in the community. In case a person is worse than other people in the society, they have high chances of experiencing psychological distress, which worsens over time. Another social psychology perspective is the aspect of the social class, which is propagated by differences in SES level. Notably, social class may impact susceptibility to mental illness in several ways. This influence can be justified since social class determines the position held by individuals in institutional sectors, attitudes and way of thinking as well as lifestyle. The attitudes and way of thinking might cause an individual to adopt behaviours that are risk factors for mental health such as substance abuse. 

In relation to the topic of study, my inference is that there is a correlation between SES and the risk of mental health. In fact, low SES status increases the risk of mental health. As an individual acquires a higher SES, their risk of mental disorders is greatly lowered. The SES in my response is influenced by employment status, job security, housing affordability and the level of poverty. Economic stress is the possible explanation for the association between mental disorders and SES. In a personal opinion, low-income earners and individuals living in remote areas experience psychological distress because they lack adequate resources for basic living. The lack of basic requirements tends to cause mental anxiety in both adults and children. Conclusively, the social environment shapes the mental health as well as many common mental disorders. Social inequalities are generally linked to increased risk of poor mental health.

Conclusion/Recommendations

In conclusion, the findings of this paper answer the question on why some Australians experience a high incidence of mental illnesses and suicide. Socioeconomic factors are important in the occurrence of mental disorders, where those living in low SES experience high incidence of mental illnesses. The incidence of mental illnesses has been explored in the context of social psychology. The primary recommendation of this paper is the need for the progressive development of preventive and early intervention initiatives that particularly pay attention to the adverse effects of unemployment, job loss, area deprivation, and job insecurity. As such, the Australian government should consider improving the social condition of those living in low SES to address the high prevalence of mental illnesses and suicide.

References

Bentley, R., Baker, E., & Manson, K. (2012). Cumulative exposure to poor housing affordability and its association with mental health in men and women. Journal of Epidemiology Community Health, 66(9), 761-766.

Enticott, J. C., Meadows, G. N., Shawyer, F., Inder, B., & Patten, S. (2016). Mental disorders and distress: Associations with demographics, remoteness and socioeconomic deprivation of area of residence across Australia. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 50(12), 1169-1179.

Fone, D., Greene, G., Farewell, D., White, J., Kelly, M., & Dunstan, F. (2013). Common mental disorders, neighbourhood income inequality and income deprivation: small-area multilevel analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 202(4), 286-293.

Kim, T. J., & von dem Knesebeck, O. (2015). Is an insecure job better for health than having no job at all? A systematic review of studies investigating the health-related risks of both job insecurity and unemployment. BMC public health, 15(1), 985.

Kinchin, I., & Doran, C. M. (2017). The economic cost of suicide and non-fatal suicide behavior in the Australian workforce and the potential impact of a workplace suicide prevention strategy. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(4), 347.

Markwick, A., Ansari, Z., Sullivan, M., Parsons, L., & McNeil, J. (2014). Inequalities in the social determinants of health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: a cross-sectional population-based study in the Australian state of Victoria. International journal for equity in health, 13(1), 91.

Malone, J. C., Liu, S. R., Vaillant, G. E., Rentz, D. M., & Waldinger, R. J. (2016). Midlife Eriksonian psychosocial development: Setting the stage for late-life cognitive and emotional health. Developmental psychology, 52(3), 496.

McLaughlin, K. A., Costello, E. J., Leblanc, W., Sampson, N. A., & Kessler, R. C. (2012). Socioeconomic status and adolescent mental disorders. American journal of public health, 102(9), 1742-1750.

Slade, T., Johnston, A., Teesson, M., Whiteford, H., Burgess, P., Pirkis, J., Saw, S. (2009).

The Mental Health of Australians 2. Report on the 2007 National Survey of Mental

Health and Wellbeing. Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra.

Woo, J. M., & Postolache, T. Τ. (2008). The impact of work environment on mood disorders and suicide: Evidence and implications. International Journal on Disability and Human Development, 7(2), 185-200.