Prevalence in AustraliaAccording to the ABS study (2007), obsessive compulsive disorder effects 1.9% of Australians in any given 12 month period and in this study there was no discrepancy between the genders, both were effected equally. Healthcare (2015) showed that 2.3% of males and 3.2% of females in Australia will experience OCD at some point in their lives, approximately 50% of cases are classified as severe.
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Differences in Onset between age and ethnicity |
The average age of onset for this disorder is 19 although this was a mean average of a widespread sample, it’s symptoms can begin to show at any age. Countries in the Middle-East and third world countries experience similar rates of the disorder, for example an estimated 2% of people in Saudi Arabia experience symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.
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People with existing severe mental disorders are more likely to experience symptoms of OCD. In a study done by the African Journal of Psychiatry (2007) found that although for mentally healthy people the amount of OCD sufferers in Africa was normal, prevalence among those who suffered schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder was 13.2%.
Although age, ethnicity, gender or socio-economic status have almost nothing to do with the development of the disease, it is far more common in individuals already suffering a severe mental illness. |