CANBERRA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- More than one million Australian men aged 18 years and over have self-reported mental health issues, new statistics have revealed.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Friday said that 1.5 million Australian men over 18 years old, or 17 percent of that demographic, self-reported mental or behavioural issues in 2014-15.
Paul Jelfs, General Manager of Population and Social Statistics at the ABS, said the most common conditions reported were anxiety-related or depression.
"It's important to get more men talking about how they're feeling, with suicide being the leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 44 years in 2015," Jelfs said in a media release on Friday.
"As physical health, financial and family stressors can all impact men's mental health, it is important to stay in contact with people who are going through a stressful time."
The ABS said that in 2014, 60 percent of Australian men had experienced personal stressors that had affected them, their family, or a close friend.
Of those 60 percent, 21 percent experienced a mental illness, 19 percent reported a death of a family member or close friend, 17 percent were unable to get a job and 11 percent went through a divorce or separation.
Jelfs said there were a number of factors that affected overall life satisfaction among men.
"For example, average life satisfaction is relatively high for men who have children living with them (7.6 out of 10) but lower for men with self-reported mental health conditions (6.4), unemployed men (7) and single fathers (7)," he said.
The ABS estimated that the annual cost of mental illness in Australia was 15 billion US dollars.
