Health is Gold (49) Startling links between mental illness and homicide

A study of killers in Victoria has identified startling links between mental illness and homicide, with four out of every five women who kill found to have suffered a mental disorder before offending.

Disturbed. Source: Flickr Neil Moralee

In each year, approximately one in every five Australians will experience a mental illness.

Mental illnesses are the third leading cause of disability burden in Australia, accounting for an estimated 27% of the total years lost due to disability.

About 4% of people will experience a major depressive episode in a 12-month period, with 5% of women and 3% of men affected.

Approximately 14 % of Australians will be affected by an anxiety disorder in any 12-month period.