Recent Time Trends in Levels of Self-reported Anxiety, Mental Health Service Use and Suicidal Behaviour in Stockholm

Objective: To investigate recent time trends in several indicators of mental ill-health and the patterning of these indicators between genders and younger vs. older individuals in Stockholm County.

Method: Several indicators were used; self-reported anxiety from the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions, information on psychiatric in-patient and out-patient care, attempted and completed suicides from national and regional registers. Gender- and age-specific trends were compared for the time period of 1997-2006.

Results: Self-reported anxiety and psychiatric service use increased among young individuals of both genders, while attempted suicides increased only among young women. By contrast, these indicators decreased or remained stable in the older age group from year 2001 and onwards.

Conclusion: Our data indicate a rising, and highly prevalent, mental ill-health among the young in Stockholm County, a region representative of urbanized, secular Western societies.