Almost half of young women in Australia report mental health disorder, study finds

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing has found more than four in 10 Australians aged 16 to 85 have had a mental disorder during their lifetime. Photograph: Andrew Brownbill/AAP

The first national study of its kind in more than a decade has found almost half of all young women in Australia suffered an anxiety, depression or substance abuse disorder last financial year.

For males in the same age bracket (16 to 24), it was about one in three.