Canadians are stressed about work, and caregiving can have a negative impact on their mental health, notes a report from the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Its report, Informing the Future: Mental Health Indicators for Canada, reveals the current landscape of the mental health of Canadians.
Here are five notable statistics mentioned in the report:
1. Among Canadian workers ages 15 to 75, 28.4% reported high work-related stress. This rate has gone down slightly since 2005, but a substantial proportion of workers are highly stressed most of their working days.
2. Of Canadians age 15 and over who provided care to an immediate family member with a long-term health condition, 16.5% reported very high levels of stress. Canada’s aging population means we expect more people with dementia and other chronic illnesses will need family care. Consequently, a rise in the number of family caregivers experiencing excessive stress can be expected.
Read: Caregivers need employer support
3. In 2013, 99,203 Canadians received Canada Pension Plan disability benefits for mental health reasons, representing 30.4% of all claims. This figure has steadily increased since 2004 and is higher than disability benefits claimed for other health reasons.
4. Only one-third of Canadians, age 12 and older, with common mental health conditions report very positive mental health. This proportion hasn’t changed much from previous years, but it’s dramatically lower than the 72% of Canadians without a mental disorder who report very positive mental health.
5. In 2011, 10.8 per 100,000 people—or 3,728 Canadians—died because of suicide. Suicide rates in Canada, while stable over time, are higher than in some other G8 countries.
Read: 230,000 Ontario adults considered suicide in 2013
“Having a clear understanding of both the problems and opportunities, and putting this knowledge to work in our communities, is critical to making inroads in mental health in Canada,” says Louise Bradley, president and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
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