We were given a list of 10 conditions - arthritis, asthma, cancer, dementia including Alzheimer's, diabetes, heart disease and heart attacks, kidney disease, lung disease and emphysema, mental health including anxiety and depression, and stroke, plus an option for "any other long-term health conditions" - and were allowed to select multiple choices.

The results give us a worrying snapshot of Ballarat compared to the rest of the state.

In particular, mental health, including anxiety and depression, is significantly more prevalent in Ballarat than the Victorian average, with 14901 people ticking the box.

Out of our population of about 113,00 people, that's 13.8 per cent, while the response across the state was 8.8 per cent.

Every other disease provided as an option was higher than the state average, except for kidney disease.

Arthritis and asthma in Ballarat, for example, was 2 percentage points and 3 percentage points higher respectively, and the open-ended "any other long-term health condition" option was 1.6 percentage points higher.

In total, just 53.1 per cent of Ballarat residents ticked the "no long-term health conditions" box, compared to 61 per cent across the state.

Also worrying was the comparison between Ballarat and the state average when it came to multiple long-term health conditions - in Victoria, 5.7 per cent of people had two conditions and 2.9 per cent had three or more, while in Ballarat, 8 per cent had two conditions and 4.1 per cent had three or more, and that's not including the other long-term conditions option.

The numbers for all conditions were similar in other regional communities, such as Bendigo.

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City of Ballarat chief executive Evan King said the stats "confirm what we think is happening in the city at the moment", particularly for mental health.

"It certainly gives us some insights into mental health, which is a concern in Ballarat," he said.

"I think it's important information, we have a municipal health and wellbeing plan, and it's great input into that, we need to go away and I suppose have a look at where some of those health outcomes have deteriorated, and look at what's being done, and whether we need to refocus what we might be doing in some of those spaces to address those concerns."

More broadly, Suicide Prevention Australia chief executive Nieves Murray said in a statement the high rates of mental illness across Australia - 2.2 million people - pointed to a need for a national suicide prevention act.

"We know the risk of suicide rates are often highest two to three years after a crisis, pandemic or natural disaster. We know there's record levels of distress across our community," she said in a statement.

If you or someone you know is in need of crisis support, phone Lifeline 13 11 14. Help is also available, but not limited, via the following organisations. The key message is you are not alone.

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