500,000 Australians go to hospital emergency departments across the country every year with suicidal tendencies, says Professor Ian Hickie (Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney).
Imagine how many more people don’t make it to a hospital and either take their own lives or live with undiagnosed depression?
At the Blank Page Summit on Suicide 2009, Chief Justice Wayne Martin shared a stark statistic about suicide in Western Australia-
“The recorded suicides, which are probably less than real ones, each year in Western Australia are about 300. That compares to the road toll of about 200, so the suicide rate is about 50 per cent more than the road toll,” he said.
“You know how much we talk and how much money we spend on the road toll but the suicide toll is 50 per cent higher.”
Deafening Silence on Mental Health
500,000 Australians go to hospital emergency departments across the country every year with suicidal tendencies, says Professor Ian Hickie (Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney).
Imagine how many more people don’t make it to a hospital and either take their own lives or live with undiagnosed depression?
At the Blank Page Summit on Suicide 2009, Chief Justice Wayne Martin shared a stark statistic about suicide in Western Australia-
“The recorded suicides, which are probably less than real ones, each year in Western Australia are about 300. That compares to the road toll of about 200, so the suicide rate is about 50 per cent more than the road toll,” he said.
“You know how much we talk and how much money we spend on the road toll but the suicide toll is 50 per cent higher.”
Both Professor Hickie and Professor Patrick McGorry, Australian of the Year and executive director of Orygen Youth Health in Melbourne, have expressed frustration at the Rudd Government’s lack of clear direction about mental health in its overall health reform blueprint.