Project Spotlight

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The Yiriman Project is a suicide prevention initiative that works with Aboriginal community and families in the south central and west Kimberley region in Western Australia for a 'whole of community' approach to support positive social change.
The Mindframe National Media Initiative seeks to influence the media industry and the mental health sector to report mental illness and suicide issues responsibly, accurately and sensitively.
The SANE StigmaWatch program monitors the Australian media and voices community feedback about media representations to ensure accurate and respectful representation of mental illness and suicide.
Serving Indigenous youth aged 8 to 23, the overall aim of the Community Activity Programs through Education-Indigenous Police Citizen Youth Club (Cape PCYC) is to reduce youth boredom through sport and recreation.
Suicide, QUestions, Answers and REsources (square) is a suicide prevention resource for people who work in primary health care. The resource promotes assessment and management of suicide risk in patients in the primary health care setting through training programs and follow-up sessions.
The Post Discharge Care for High Risk Psychiatric Patients project involved an Intensive Case Management (ICM) intervention study and was developed to fill an existing gap in follow-up care for discharged psychiatric patients.
The purpose of the Making My Living initiative is to provide awareness education and engagement strategies to government and non-government youth service providers and community members who have contact with young refugee people.
MindMatters is a national mental health initiative for secondary schools, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and implemented by Principals Australia Inc (formerly APAPDC).
The StandBy Response Service is a community based program that provides a 24 hour coordinated crisis response to assist families, friends and associates who have been bereaved through suicide.
Lifeline Australia’s Suicide Bereavement Support Group Standards & Practice Project is a workforce development project which aims to improve suicide bereavement support by developing a) standards and guidelines to inform best practice and b) training for group facilitators.
headspace provides health and mental health support, information and services to young people and their families across Australia. Issues headspace regularly deal with include self harm, depression, anxiety and alcohol and other drug use.
CALD Community Connections is a community suicide prevention project that works to increase wellbeing, reduce suicide risk and enhance capacity for individuals to respond to suicidal crises within CALD communities in Tasmania.
Promote Living is a suicide prevention training project run by the Perth Primary Care Network in collaboration with the Western Australian Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention. The project consists of a series of training sessions for Western Australian GPs and nurses.
Community Connections supports older men in Queensland rural areas who are at high risk of suicide. The program is coordinated through inter-agency referrals.
The OzHelp expansion to Goulburn, Queanbeyan and NSW is project widening the geographic area covered by the OzHelp work-based program of support, advice and counselling for apprentices within the construction industry.
Multicultural Mental Health Australia provides national leadership in building greater awareness of mental health and suicide prevention amongst Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
The Suicide Call Back Service provides crisis counselling to people at risk of suicide, carers for someone who is suicidal and those bereaved by suicide, 24 hours per day 7 days a week across Australia.
The Mental Health First Aid Training and Research Program conducts research and training courses that aspire to increase Australians’ understanding of mental health.
Reducing Suicide and Its Impact In Culturally Diverse Communities in Tasmania aims to increase capacity for suicide prevention in refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Tasmania.
The Integrated Client Services Delivery Program for the Family Courts of Australia project aims to improve people’s access to mental health services by ensuring the court system’s processes are as supportive as possible.
The LifeForce suicide prevention project is a national suicide prevention program that aims to educate, empower and resource Australian communities.
The SANE Mental Illness Bereavement Project aims to improve services and support for family and friends of people with mental illness who have died by suicide or are missing.
Reach Out Pro is a web-based service that supports health care professionals to use new technologies in their work with young people. The Reach Out Pro website provides information about what young people are doing online and the significance of technology in their lives.
A joint project between the Murrumbidgee Division of General Practice and the Griffith Aboriginal Medical Service, Life Matters for Koori Youth aims to address self-harming and suicidal behaviour by Indigenous youth within the communities of Western Riverina, NSW
CAN - Community Connections emphasises the value of consumer led service delivery no matter what the consumer's mental health problem(s) may be.
The Farm Link suicide prevention project seeks to improve the mental health and well-being of people who live and work on NSW farms. The project uses an innovative model that was founded on research and is consistent with policy.
Rural Alive and Well is a community suicide prevention project that was developed in response to the extreme drought conditions prevalent in the Southern Midlands and Central Highlands of Tasmania.
OzHelp Tasmania is a workplace-based early intervention and social capacity building program for the Tasmanian building and construction industry. The project delivers training, support and awareness raising activities to building and construction workers.
The Community Broadcasting Suicide Prevention Project uses community radio networks around Australia to build a greater understanding of issues surrounding mental health and suicide prevention.

LIFE News

LIFE News issue 10, which focuses on suicide prevention in CALD communities, is now available online.

LIFE News is the online newsletter of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy in Australia. Published bi-monthly, LIFE News features comment, project updates, national and international research, and much more.

Previous editions of LIFE News can be located in the LIFE News archive.

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Mental illness

Certain mental illnesses are associated to some degree with suicidal behaviour. While it is not possible to explain suicide as having a simplistic one to one relationship with mental illness, mental illness is nevertheless a significant risk factor for suicide.

The term mental illness describes a group of illnesses where people may show irrational behaviour, disturbed mood, poor judgement, abnormal perceptions or thoughts, disturbed emotions and ability to relate to others, and inability to cope with life events. The severity of mental illness may range from being brief or episodic, to being persistent and disabling.

This page provides information about mental illness and suicide prevention Australia and includes statistics , brief facts , key players , resources, research and LIFE project profiles.

It is intended as a portal through which readers can access short and succinct facts and then visit recommended online sources for more information. For additional information and resources conduct a LIFE library search using the keywords 'mental illness.'

Statistics

The following statistics are based on the findings from the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHWB), a nationally-representative household survey of 8,841 individuals aged between 16 and 85 years.

45.5% of Australians will experience a mental or substance use disorder at some time in their life.
One in five Australians will experience a mental or substance use disorder in any 12 month period.
Anxiety disorders (14.4%) are the most common class of mental illness followed by affective (depressive) disorders (6.2%) and substance use disorders (5.1%).
Only 35% of people with a mental or substance use disorder used health services for their problem.
13% of those surveyed experienced suicidal ideation at some stage in their lives, while over 4% had made a suicide plan and more than 3% had made a suicide attempt.

Brief facts

Here are some facts about the relationship between mental illness and suicidal behaviour (from LIFE Fact Sheet 7)

The strongest links (between mental illness and suicidal ideation) are with clinical depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcohol or other drug abuse, borderline personality disorder, and behavioural disorders in children and adolescents (e.g. conduct, oppositional).
Suicide is a more common cause of death among people with schizophrenia and mood disorders than the general population, and the risk for suicidal behaviour is more marked if the person has more than one mental illness.
People with mental illness are at particular risk of suicide immediately following discharge from psychiatric in-patient care or emergency departments, especially if the person has previously been suicidal or was an involuntary admission and where they live alone or are exposed to work stresses. To assist these people post-discharge, it is therefore important to provide thorough treatment of the circumstances that led to the admission, management of work and other stresses, improved follow-up and ongoing assessment of suicide risk.
People diagnosed with depression may in the early phases of recovery be at increased risk of acting upon their suicidal ideas due to a delayed response to treatment. It is therefore important to educate individuals, family and carers about this and how to minimise the risk until the patient’s mood recovers and the suicidal ideas abate.

Key players

The Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health

The Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health (ACPMH) at the University of Melbourne undertakes world class trauma related research, policy advice, service development and education.

beyondblue

beyondblue is a national, independent, not-for-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety and related substance misuse disorders in Australia.

headspace

headspace is Australia's National Youth Mental Health Foundation. The organisation aims to deliver improvements in the mental health, social wellbeing and economic participation of young Australian’s aged 12-25. headspace funds centres across the country that help young people access local service providers. These centres focus on integrated service response for young people.

The Black Dog Institute

Black Dog Institute is a not-for-profit, educational, research, clinical and community-oriented facility offering specialist expertise in depression and bipolar disorder.

depressionNET

depressioNET provides online resources to locate help, healthcare professionals and information about causes, symptoms and various treatment options for managing depression.

Lifeline

Lifeline offers access to a range of national and local services that support mental health, wellbeing, help seeking and suicide prevention.

Mental Health & well being

Mental health & well being provides information on the Australian Government’s role and contributions to mental health reform activities in Australia.

Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid is a 12-hour course developed in 2000 by Betty Kitchener and Professor Tony Jorm with the aim to improve the mental health literacy of members of the Australian community.

Mental Health Council of Australia

Mental Health Council of Australia provides access to information and resources for the Australian mental health sector.

SANE Helpline

SANE Helpline offers information and advice 9-5 weekdays EST on 1800 18 7263 (SANE). Request free InfoPack 24 hours.

National Suicide Prevention Strategy projects

Mindframe Media and Mental Health

The Mindframe initiative seeks to influence the media industry and the mental health sector to report mental illness and suicide issues responsibly, accurately and sensitively. Activities include media monitoring research, resources for media professionals, resources for community action against stigma, and curriculum resources for journalism students and educators.

MindMatters

MindMatters is a national mental health initiative for secondary schools, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and implemented by Principals Australia Inc (formerly APAPDC). MindMatters promotes a whole school approach to mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention, focusing not just on individual students with identified needs but also on entire school communities.

headspace

headspace provides health and mental health support, information and services to young people and their families across Australia. Issues headspace regularly deal with include self harm, depression, anxiety and alcohol and other drug use.

SANE Mental Illness Bereavement Project

SANE Mental Illness and Bereavement Project aims to improve services and support for family and friends of people with mental illness who have died by suicide or are missing.

The SANE StigmaWatch program

The SANE StigmaWatch Program monitors the Australian media to ensure accurate and respectful representation of mental illness and suicide. StigmaWatch voices community feedback about representations within the media that stigmatise mental illness or inadvertently promote self-harm and suicide.

For more information about mental health related projects read LIFE News issue 6: mental health.