The statistics have long shown people outside metropolitan areas are more likely commit suicide.
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Service providers and experts agree that people in regional and rural areas are less likely to get help for depression and will present later when they do.
This presents a nightmare scenario for those trying to stop the high rate of suicide, which has been shown to be double the metro rate for young men in some regional areas.
Kristy Steenhuis, who started the Survivors of Suicide group in Ballarat after her husband committed suicide a decade ago, said the number of people dying would be a scandal if it was another cause.
“Ballarat was recognised by Wesley Mission as having a higher than average suicide rate. Roughly two to three (people) a week,” she said.
“Imagine if we had three people die on the roads in Ballarat every week. And that’s just the City of Ballarat.”
Ballarat Health Services provides inpatient and outreach mental health care across an enormous swathe of Western Victoria from Bacchus Marsh to Warracknabeal.
BHS Psychiatric Services Director of Clinical Services Associate Professor Abdul Khalid said it was clear people in isolated areas were more reluctant to ask for help.
“It’s more likely people in rural areas, that they will not access services. Farmers are supposed to be tough. They may not access services. Some people in regional areas, they have to drive to their GP, their GP might be far away, so they may not access that service, as it requires a bit of commitment from them,” he said.
Assoc Prof Khalid said young people could be more difficult to support even once they have been referred to the service.
“They are difficult to engage. So much work goes into engaging with (people aged 12-25),” he said.
“I’m talking about all mental health here; they are more likely to have their onset in this age group.”
“(There’s also sometimes) a denial of having a mental illness. They are more likely to move around. They may be couchsurfing. They are more to be using drugs and alcohol, and unwilling to get help in that area.”
Headspace Ballarat manager Jacqui White said headspace’s mix of mental and physical health services was one factor in getting more people through the doors to seek help, whether it is for suicide ideation or the flu.
“You could be walking in, and in the past you might have thought there is stigma in walking into a place where mental health is being addressed, (but) this is your whole being that comes through the door," she said.
If you need help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
