Mental health

Introduction

Mental health and wellbeing is more than the absence of mental illness or disorder. Mental wellbeing occurs along a continuum influenced by a complex interplay of social, psychological and biological factors.¹ People’s experience of mental wellbeing varies from person to person and across the lifespan. Mental wellbeing is supported by six different areas that strengthen the ability to perform daily activities, specifically:

• physical health
• mental growth
• bringing joy to others
• personal connection
• mindfulness
• connection with nature.²

This section includes a range of mental health indicators. Information about suicide and self-harm statistics, however, are in the Suicide and self-harm statistics section of this report.

Mental health burden

In 2024, mental disorders, including substance use disorders, were the third leading cause of healthy years of life lost (855,559) translating to an age-standardised rate (ASR or standardised rate) for mental health burden of 32.8 per 1,000 persons in Australia.³

Nationally, total healthcare expenditure on mental and substance use disorders was $11.877 billion in 2022–23.⁴

For selected mental disorders included in this section, the number and standardised rate for years of healthy life lost nationally in 2024 were:

• Anxiety disorders: 224,765 years (standardised rate 8.6 per 1,000 persons)
• Depressive disorders: 181,530 years (standardised rate 6.9 per 1,000 persons)
• Alcohol use disorders: 76,329 years (standardised rate 2.9 per 1,000 persons)
• Drug use disorders: 52,344 years (standardised rate 2.0 per 1,000 persons).³

Corresponding health expenditure information for 2022–23 was $2.512 billion (depression disorders), $522.2 million (anxiety disorders), $944.6 million (drug use disorders) and $861.4 million (alcohol use disorders).⁴

The estimated cost of mental ill-health and suicide, encompassing healthcare, education, housing, justice, employment, and the overall impact on the quality of life for consumers, their families, and carers, ranged from $43 billion and $70 billion. This includes:

• $16 billion in direct costs for healthcare services and other forms of support
• $12 to $39 billion in lost productivity in the workforce
• $15 billion attributed to informal care provided by family and friends.⁵

Mental disorders

The National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHW), conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, assesses the prevalence and impact of mental disorders, suicidality and self-harm behaviours as well as data on health service use.⁶ The most recent NSMHW was conducted in 2020–2022 with the previous survey conducted in 2007.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) provides extensive results for the NSMHW as well as a range of studies that include a mental health measure. This section focuses on the more recently released Queensland NSMHW results with AIHW sources listed below in Additional Information. Where Queensland NSMHW results were unavailable, Australian results have been provided.

Mental disorders in the past 12 months

In 2020–2022, 23.7% of Queenslanders 16 to 85 years experienced a mental disorder in the past 12 months. Anxiety disorders were the most commonly reported mental disorder (19.2%), followed by affective disorders (8.6%) and substance use disorders (3.2%).⁸ Queensland and Australian results were similar across all conditions.

In Queensland, reports of mental disorders in the past 12 months in 2020–2022 varied by sex and age (Figure 1):

• Females 16 to 85 years were 45.6% more likely to report a mental disorder in the past 12 months than males (28.1% in females and 19.3% in males).
• People 16 to 34 years were 4.5 times more likely to report a mental disorder in the past 12 months than older adults (36.5% in 16 to 34 year olds and 8.2% in 65 to 85 year olds).⁶

The higher prevalence of mental disorders in the past 12 months in females was largely driven by anxiety disorders.

Figure 1: Mental disorder prevalence in the past 12 months, 2020–2022

In 2020–2022, age (national results only) and sex (Queensland results) differences were also evident for specific mental disorders:

• Anxiety disorders in the past 12 months were 80.9% higher in females than males in Queensland, and 3.5 times higher in 16 to 34 year olds than in 65 to 85 year olds in Australia.
• Affective disorders showed a similar pattern with the proportion in females 54.4% higher than males in Queensland, and the proportion in 16 to 34 year olds 3.4 times higher than those 65 to 85 years in Australia.

Substance use disorders showed a similar age pattern with Australians 16 to 34 years 7.0 times more likely to report a substance use disorder in the past 12 months than those 65 to 84 years. However, Queensland males were 2.3 times higher than females to report this condition in Australia.⁶

Lifetime mental disorders

In 2020–2022, 45.2% of Queenslanders 16 to 85 years had experienced a mental disorder at some time in their life. Anxiety disorders were the most common (29.9%), followed by substance use disorders (20.7%) and affective disorders (16.9%). Queensland and Australian lifetime prevalence of mental disorders were similar across all conditions (Figure 2).

As observed for mental disorders experienced in the past 12 months, there were pronounced sex differences in lifetime experience of mental disorders in Queensland (results by age are not available).

• The proportion of females reporting anxiety disorders was 52.7% higher than males (36.2% in females and 23.7% in males).
• The proportion of females experiencing affective disorders was 51.9% higher than males (20.2% in females and 13.3% in males).
• Conversely, the proportion reporting lifetime substance use disorders was 79.1% higher in males (26.5% in males and 14.8% in females).⁶

Figure 2: Lifetime mental health disorders in Queensland, 2020–2022

Long term mental and behavioural conditions

The National Health Survey (NHS) collects information about chronic conditions that lasted, or were expected to last, for six months or more.⁷ One category is self-reported general mental or behavioural problems. Changes in methodology, however, limit comparability over time (see Technical notes below). For information on other NHS chronic conditions, see the Chronic Disease section of this report.

In 2022, standardised prevalence of mental and behavioural problems was 18.3% higher in Queensland than Australia overall (31.0% in Queensland and 26.2% nationally). Long term mental and behavioural problems prevalence was also higher in Queensland than several jurisdictions (39.6% higher than New South Wales, 38.4% higher than the Northern Territory and 20.6% higher than Victoria).

Sex differences were again observed with the standardised prevalence of mental and behavioural conditions 33.7% higher in females (37.3% in females and 27.9% in males).

Differences in sex by age were also evident but should be interpreted with caution due to wide margins of error. While standardised prevalence was similar across age groups in males, in females prevalence decreased with increasing age. The standardised prevalence was 80.8% higher in females 15 to 24 years (50.8%) than in those 55 to 64 years (28.1%).

From 2014–15 to 2022, mental and behavioural conditions increased 72.2% in Queensland and were the most commonly reported chronic condition in 2022.

Figure 3: Mental and behavioural conditions

Psychological distress

The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-10 (K10) measures psychological distress based on a person’s self-reported level of nervousness, agitation, psychological fatigue and depression in the past four weeks.⁸ The NHS has included the K10 since 2001.⁷

In 2022, the Queensland and national standardised prevalence of high or very high psychological distress was similar (14.6% in Australia and 16.3% in Queensland).⁷ High or very high psychological distress increased annually in Queensland by 2.7% translating to an overall increase of 49.1% from 2007–08 to 2022. Nationally, a non-significant increase was observed.

Figure 4: Trends psychological distress in Australia and Queensland, 2001 to 2022

Detailed reporting of psychological distress of Australians, including proportion of high/very high psychological distress by age and sex, is available from AIHW Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring.

Mentally unhealthy days

The Healthy Days instrument collects information about the number of days in the past 30 that a person reports that their physical or mental health was poor.⁹ The mental health question includes poor health due to stress, depression, and problems with emotions. This instrument is included in the Queensland preventive health survey (QPHS)¹⁰ and other results from this instrument are reported in the Health-related Quality of Life section of this report.

Healthy days results have proved useful for monitoring population health and understanding sociodemographic health disparities, burden of illness and disability, and relationship between health and modifiable risk factors.^11–14 Mentally unhealthy days have been used for population-level mental health monitoring and research.^15,16 In Queensland, it has been associated with sociodemographic factors, modifiable risk factors and population-level hospital utilisation.¹⁷

In 2024, adult Queenslanders reported 5.6 unhealthy days in the past 30 days with females experiencing on average 1.9 more mentally unhealthy days than adult males (6.6 days for females and 4.7 days for males).

The average number of mentally unhealthy days varied by sex and age (Figure 5):

• Younger females experienced 5.4 more mentally unhealthy days in the past 30 days than older females (9.4 days for females 18 to 29 years and 4.0 days for females 65 years or more)
• Younger males experienced 2.6 more mentally unhealthy days in the past 30 days than older males (5.5 days for males 18 to 29 years and 2.9 days for males 65 years or more)
• Those 65 years and older averaged fewer mentally unhealthy days than other age groups.

The average number of mentally unhealthy days also varied by remoteness and socioeconomic status:¹⁸

• On average, adults in remote areas experienced 1.5 fewer mentally unhealthy days than those in inner regional areas.
• On average, adults in the most disadvantaged areas experienced 2.0 more mentally unhealthy days in the past 30 days than those in the most advantaged areas.

Trends

The average number of mentally unhealthy days in the past 30 days increased with females, especially young females, experiencing the greatest increase.

From 2018 to 2024, the average number of mentally unhealthy days in the past 30 days increased by 1.2 days—from an average of 4.5 to 5.6 mentally unhealthy days.

Differences in increases were seen by age (Figure 5):

• Females 18 to 29 years experienced an increase of 1.9 days from 7.5 to 9.4 days
• Females 30 to 44 years experienced an increase of 1.0 days from 5.7 to 6.7 days
• Females 45 to 64 years experienced an increase of 1.6 days from 5.0 to 6.6 days
• Females 65 years and older experienced an increase of 0.9 days from 3.1 to 4.0 days.

Some age groups in males also saw increases in mentally unhealthy days over the period:

• males 45 to 64 years increased 0.8 days from 3.7 to 4.5 days
• males 65 years and older increased 0.5 days from 2.3 to 2.9 days.

Figure 5: Average number of mentally unhealthy days in Queensland

The prevalence of some modifiable risk factors is higher in those with mental health conditions.^19–21

In 2024, modifiable risk factors that were associated with higher mentally unhealthy days in the past 30 days were (Figure 6):

• Current smokers reported 3.5 more mentally unhealthy days than non-smokers.
• Adults who currently vaped had 4.9 more mentally unhealthy days, and those that previously vaped had 2.5 more mentally unhealthy days, than those who had never vaped.
• Adults who were underweight had 3.1 more, and obese adults had 1.6 more mentally unhealthy days, than those who were a healthy weight.
• Adults who did not meet the recommended level of physical activity had 1.9 more mentally unhealthy days than those that did meet recommendations.

Figure 6: Average number of mentally unhealthy days by lifestyle behaviours, Queensland

Use of health services for mental health

In 2020–2022, 17.4% of Australians had at least one consultation with a health professional for mental health.

Seeking health care for mental disorder was relatively uncommon—30.7% of people who reported a mental disorder in their lifetimes had at least one consultation with a health professional for mental health.

Among those who experienced symptoms of a mental disorder in the past 12 months, less than half (45.1%) received care from their GP, a mental health practitioner, or other health professional. Women were 40.3% more likely to receive care (51.1% for females and 36.4% for males).⁶

Further reporting on healthcare utilisation for mental health can be accessed at AIHW Use of health services for mental health.

Burden of disease

The health burden of specific disorders reflects the incidence reported in Mental disorders.

The Australian health burden of (Figure 7):

• Anxiety disorders were highest in younger females.
• Depressive and bipolar disorders were higher in females with the age-standardised rate highest in females 15 to 24 years similar to the pattern of affective disorders from the NSMHWB.
• Substance use disorders, for alcohol and other drugs, were highest in males 25 to 44 years, again reflecting the pattern of substance use disorders in the NSMHWB.

Figure 7: Australian health burden for selected mental health conditions, 2024

International comparison

Globally, standardised rates of mental disorder burden were largely consistent between 1990 and 2021.²² Mental disorders are among the top ten leading causes of health burden.^22,23

In 2019, Australia had the highest standardised rate of health burden due to mental disorders among high-income countries (2,399.5 per 100,000 persons). For comparison, New Zealand ranked 3rd (2,354.3 per 100,000 persons) and the United States ranked 9th (2,137.7 per 100,000 persons).²³

Additional information

Data and statistics

More mental health information is available from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare:

• Prevalence and impact of mental illness
• Australia’s mental health services
• Interactive data on disease burden from the Australian burden of disease study
• Mental health performance indicators
• Mental health expenditure

Strategies and general information

Better care together––A plan for Queensland’s state funded mental health alcohol and other drug services to 2027 aims to advance healthcare and outcomes for people experiencing mental health crisis including suicidality, mental ill health and problematic alcohol and other drug use.

Mental health and wellbeing information from the Queensland Government is available from:

• Your Mental Wellbeing initiative
• Counselling and support services from Help lines, counselling and support groups

Section technical notes

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are included in burden of disease and expenditure reporting of mental health sourced from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Information has been sourced from the National Health Survey (NHS) and The National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHWB), which determine mental disorders and level of psychological distress based on self-reported responses to validated questionnaires.

Information on long term mental health conditions collected as a component of the National Health Survey in 2014–15, 2017–18 and 2022, was obtained through a Mental Health, Behavioural and Cognitive Conditions module, while in the previous years it was collected in the Other Long Term Conditions model.⁹

Age-standardised rates sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics were standardised to the Australian population as at 30 June 2001.

See the About this Report section of this report for trend analysis methods. In text, results are presented as the total increase or decrease over the specified time period. In graph hover boxes, the annual percentage change (APC) and 95% confidence intervals are presented. The APC is the average change per year over the time period.

Where presented, ratios were calculated using higher precision estimates than in text. Ratios calculated using estimates in text may differ.