New Zealand Depression and Suicide Research Dump
One in six New Zealand adults had been diagnosed with a common mental disorder at some time in their lives. This includes depression, bipolar disorders and anxiety disorders.
Nearly 8 percent of adults had experienced psychological distress in the past four weeks.
Mental disorders as a group are the third-leading cause of health loss for New Zealanders. Measuring health loss includes risk of illness, disability, and early death.
Females are more likely to experience a common mental disorder than males, regardless of age.
The highest rates of common mental disorder were from 35 to 44 years of age for women and from 45 to 55 years of age for men.
Adults aged 75 years and over were the only age group for which rates of psychological distress have stayed consistently low (around 4 percent) since 2011/12.
Māori and Pacific have higher rates of being diagnosed with mental disorders or experiencing psychological distress than the rest of the population. Mental health service use by Māori is rising.
People living in the most socio-economically deprived areas were nearly three times more likely to experience psychological distress as people living in the least deprived areas – after adjusting for age, sex and ethnicity.
https://www.cph.co.nz/your-health/mental-illness/
Men who are depressed are more likely to talk about the physical symptoms, rather than the emotional ones. This leads to more men being misdiagnosed and depression is often overlooked by doctors.
Depression symptoms can include:
Headaches and Migraines
Lack or Loss of appetite
Lack of sexual interest
Digestive issues
Sudden weight loss
Sleep troubles
Feeling dejected, or constantly numb
Loss of interest in hobbies and pleasures
Tiredness / Having no energy to perform daily tasks
Having problems thinking clearly or making straight forward decisions
Anger and isolation in regards to family and friends
Confusion
Feeling guilty about things that don’t affect you
Impatience
Suicidal thoughts
Male depression is as common as it is with females and other genders, however less males are likely to report their depression, or depressive feelings. This is largely due to the age old stigma that men should be tough. Most of the pressure to not speak out about their issues are from the person themselves, as they often feel it is weak to seek help or to rely on someone else, especially another male.
“I was functioning, just not as well as I used to. I just felt a bit flat and irritable. I suppose I really didn’t think it was bad enough to do anything about.”
Men often assume that what they are feeling isn’t depression, or they don’t want to admit it. People also assume that they’re simply just in a sad mood; that their depression isn’t bad enough to be seen by a doctor, or be to get therapy.
https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/assets/ResourceFinder/Men-and-Depression-2013.pdf
According to the Health Loss in New Zealand study,anxiety and depressive disorders arethe second-leading cause of health loss for New Zealanders, accounting for 5.3% of all health loss, behind only coronary heart disease (9.3%). For women, they were the leading cause(~7%)
Antidepressants were prescribed to 427,900 patients in the year to 30 June 2013, representing more than a 20% increase in the last five years
The latest figures from the Ministry of Healthshow that 137,346 people used mental health and addiction service sin 2010/11; of whom 74,337 (54.1%) were male, and 63,009 (45.9%) were female. Most clients were seen face-to-face(90.3%), and DHBs were the largest providers of mental health services.
The internationally recognised Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study has shown that adverse experiences during childhood, including socioeconomic disadvantage, maltreatment and social isolation, are associated with a cluster of mental and physical effects, including a higher risk of depression and immune and metabolic abnormalities associated with poor health later in life
The suicide rate is 3.5 higher in men than in women, and it is higher amongst young people aged 15 –24 years (19.3 deaths per 100,000) than the general population. Māori and people living in the most deprived areas are also at increased risk of suicide.
Figures from the Ministry of Health show that in 2011there were 14.0 suicide deaths per 100,000 population in the most deprived areas of New Zealand, compared with 8.4 deaths per 100,000 in the least deprived (after adjusting for age).
https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/assets/Uploads/MHF-Quick-facts-and-stats-FINAL-2016.pdf
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/106532292/new-zealand-suicide-rate-highest-since-records-began
In 2018 the number of people who have taken their own lives in New Zealand is the highest since records began, with 668 dying by suicide in the past year. The suicide rate has also been increasing consistently over the past 4 years.
Figures released on Friday by Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall show the number of Māori deaths is also the highest since records began, with 142 deaths from July 2017 to June 2018.
http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-social-indicators/Home/Health/suicide.aspx
(Statistics ending in 2013)
Male suicide rates in New Zealand are far higher than female rates in New Zealand. This is interesting as the number of males who are diagnosed with depression is significantly lower than females. This could imply that there is a large portion of males in New Zealand that are living with undiagnosed depression, or other mental health issues. Of these deaths, the number of Maori and Pacific men taking their own lives are much higher than any other group.
In 2013, two and a half times more men commited suicide than females. Of these suicides, the highest age bracket was people aged between 15 and 24 years old.
Between 2008 and 2013, around 20% more men that didn’t seek mental health help died from suicide than females. Again, the higher number of suicides indicates a large percentage of men live with undiagnosed mental health issues.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/106532292/new-zealand-suicide-rate-highest-since-records-began
A new report by Unicef contains a shocking statistic - New Zealand has by far the highest youth suicide rate in the developed world. The rate of 15.6 suicides per 100,000 people is twice as high as the US rate and almost five times that of Britain.
The high suicide rate ties in with other data, showing for instance child poverty, high rates of teenage pregnancies or families where neither of the parents have work.
New Zealand also has "one of the world's worst records for bullying in school", says Shaun Robinson of the Mental Health Foundations New Zealand.
Beyond the bleak numbers there's another possibility that some cite as a possible cause for the troubling situation.
Health and support services across all Western countries have for years been fighting the stigma attached to depression perceived as weakness.
And this might in fact be more of a problem in New Zealand than in other countries.
"There is a tradition of the hardened-up mate culture within New Zealand," says Dr Stone. "It puts pressure on men to be of a particular mould, pressure on boys to harden up to become these tough beer-drinking hard men. "
She says there's been a slight change in recent years, with musicians and film makers emerging as role models for a different kind of New Zealand male - people that are "not your typical All Black big tough type" but show there can be a playful approach to masculinity.
https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/pages/data-story-overview-suicide-prevention-strategy-april2017newmap.pdf
* A lot of this isn’t my own writing but I have taken out key bits of information from articles and such.
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New research findings published today in The Lancet Global Healthshow that the number of people dying with palliative care needs is set to almost double over the next four decades. By 2060, an estimated 48 million people each year (47% of all deaths globally) will die with serious health-related suffering, an 87% increase compared to 2016. 83% of these people will be in low and middle-income countries. Serious life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses place an enormous burden on society and health systems. For the first time, researchers from King’s College London have produced worldwide projections of the future need for palliative care based on serious health-related suffering, in order to help inform policies that alleviate suffering and prevent health systems weakening. They modelled future estimates of suffering by World Bank income classification, WHO region, age, gender, and condition causing death. The main findings included:Serious health-related suffering will increase in all world regions, with the largest proportional rise in low-income countries (155% increase between 2016 and 2060).In high-income countries 3 million more people will die with serious health-related suffering in 2060, an increase of 57% compared to 2016.Globally, serious health-related suffering will increase most rapidly among older people (183% increase in those aged 70+ 2016-2060).The increase in serious health-related suffering will be driven by rises in cancer deaths (16 million people dying each year with serious health-related suffering by 2060, 109% increase 2016-2060). The condition with the highest proportional increase will be dementia (6 million people dying each year with serious health-related suffering by 2060, 264% increase 2016-2060). Lead author, Dr. Katherine Sleeman, NIHR Clinician Scientist and Honorary Consultant in palliative medicine at the Cicely Saunders Institute at King’s College London said: “Immediate global action to integrate palliative care into health systems is an ethical and economic imperative. “Palliative care can relieve suffering for patients and families, and save money for health systems and society. To direct effective health care planning and policy development, it is essential to understand both the current and future level of palliative care need. “Our findings call for global policies to strengthen health care systems through availability of essential drugs to relieve symptoms, staff training and public education, with a focus on the populations that will experience the fastest rise of suffering and need. We have provided the first quantification of the scale of suffering we will witness if nothing is done.” Co-author Professor Richard Harding Herbert Dunhill Professor of Palliative Care & Rehabilitation at King’s College London said: “Palliative care and the relief of suffering have been described as some of the most neglected dimensions of global health today. It is estimated that just 14% of the people who need palliative care globally receive it, most of whom are in high income countries. “The increase in palliative care need that we have identified will place an enormous burden on already weak health systems, particularly in low and middle-income countries. There is growing evidence that investment in palliative care services can support patients and families, as well as take pressure off hospital services by keeping people pain-free at home for as long as they wish. Society has a duty to provide care for all to the last moments of life.”
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