Facts and Figures

• Anxiety is not just feeling tense or worried. It interferes markedly with a person's capacity to go about their everyday life.

• Anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental disorders.

• Anxiety often begins early in childhood (or the teenage years), and if untreated leads to depression, alcohol or substance abuse in later life.

• Most people with anxiety do not come forward for treatment. Anxiety symptoms can be effectively treated.

• Anxiety is best managed with non-drug treatments.

• Anxiety is an unpleasant emotional state ranging from mild uneasiness to intense fear. A certain amount of anxiety is normal and serves to improve performance.

• Clinical anxiety differs from everyday anxiety in its intensity and the degree to which it interferes with people's lives. Anxiety is often associated with depression. Onset of anxiety disorders is usually in early to late adolescence.

• The different types of anxiety disorders are: social anxiety disorder (13% of population); generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) (about 3-5% of population); panic disorder (2-3% of the population have a diagnosed panic disorder, but up to 30% of people will experience a panic attack in any given year); post-traumatic stress disorder; phobias (including agoraphobia, social phobia and specific phobia); obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (2-3% of the population experience OCD, the fourth most common psychiatric disorder); and substance-induced anxiety disorder.

• Several factors may impact on an anxiety disorder's development, either individually or in
combination, including personality, learned response, hereditary factors, biochemical processes.

• Anxiety may be a condition in itself, or it may be caused by an underlying psychiatric/physical illness. It may occur as part of a variety of syndromes, including depression.

• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem affecting Australians. About 10% of the population is affected at some time in their lives. Some people experience more than one anxiety disorder and may, at some time, suffer with depression.

• Specific phobias are common in children, but can occur at any age. Between 5-12% of people have phobias. People with specific phobias experience excessive fear and anxiety cued by a specific object or situation. A phobia can give rise to feelings of panic and all the physical reactions that are triggered by extreme fear, such as rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, trembling and a desire to flee.

• Anxiety is a problem that can affect people at all ages. Problems related to anxiety are the most common emotional disorders in children and adolescents and affect around 1 in 10 children. When anxiety occurs, it can produce serious difficulties and interference in a child's life and development.

• Depression is a very complex illness. No one really knows for certain what causes depression, and everyone's experience of depression is different.

• Depression is common, affecting about 121 million people worldwide.

• Depression is among the leading causes of disability worldwide.

• Depression can be reliably diagnosed in primary care. Anti-depressant medications and brief,
structured forms of psychotherapy are effective for 60-80% of those affected and can be delivered in primary care. However, fewer than 25% of those affected (in some countries fewer than 10%) receive such treatments. Barriers to effective care include the lack of resources, lack of trained providers, and the social stigma associated with mental disorders including depression.

• In general, depression is caused by a mixture of 'pressure' or 'strain', which can be mild or severe, combined with a vulnerability or predisposition to depression, which, too, can range from mild to severe.

• For each type of depression there are likely to be differ-ent mixtures of causes. For psychotic or melancholic depression, physical and biological factors are generally more relevant. By contrast, for non-melancholic dep-ression, the role of personality and stressful life events are generally far more relevant.

• Those types of depression that are more biological in their origins (melancholic depression and psychotic melancholia) are more likely to need physical treatments and less likely to be resolved with psychological treatments alone. Non-melancholic depression appears similarly responsive to physical treatments (antidepressants) and psychological treatments.

• Major depressive disorder is common in children, with 14-25% of young people experiencing at least one episode of major depression before adulthood.

• Despite its prevalence, and the associated risk of teen suicide, a global review of the evidence for depression treatments has revealed no firm guidelines for treating the disorder.

• Between 1-2% of primary school-age children and 2-5% of adolescents suffer depression.

• Worldwide, the teen suicide rate has dropped since antidepressants have been prescribed to
adolescents.

• There is no firm evidence to show whether anti-depressants or "talking" therapy is more effective.

• Most young people have mood swings and times when they feel very unhappy in adolescence, but it is important to be aware that up to 24% of young people suffer a major depressive illness lasting a few weeks to a few months at some time.