Mental illnesses affect 6.7 million Canadians annually—but how prepared are we as a country to support those who are suffering?
The million-dollar question has been presented.
Regardless of mental illness now becoming a much more talked about thing than before. There are still many people that tend to misunderstand mental illnesses. About 6.7 million Canadians suffer from metal illnesses and therefore this is something that the government should actively become a part of overtaking.
Let’s get the numbers in a much more understandable term. 1 out of every 5 Canadians is suffering form a metal health disorder. This means that they are diagnosed with some sort of mental condition that would be treatable under common circumstances. Which means that this does not includes people who did not or cannot go to a problem doctor.
Out of those diagnosed with mental illness annually, depression and bipolar disorder, substance abuse disorder or addiction, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and PTSD are among the most common.
“In any given week, 500,000 Canadians aren’t able to work due to mental illness,”
says Hosseiny.
This is how serious this issue is and not to mention that by 2020 mental issues would be a leading cause of disability in most Canadian workplaces.
“an estimated $50 billion is lost annually through unemployment, absenteeism and presenteeism,”
This is clearly going to have not only a personal but an economical impact as well.
When it comes to mental illness, our public health system is still set up in a way that concentrates on treatment versus preventative measures.
“We’ve done a lot of great work to tackle the stigma and, as a result, people are coming out and having discussions [and seeking treatment],”
says Hosseiny.
“But the problem is that the system isn’t ready to respond to that.”
While many say Canada has universal health care, it’s really universal medical care as mental health and illness are still not treated in the same way as physical care.
The government would need to take proactive prevention measures that would allow them to limit
“We don’t wait until stage 4 to treat cancer, so why do we [wait so long] with mental illness?”
We have a great set of initiative by the recent government but then again due to a lack of funding on the projects and ideas things have seen a lag. Lagging on such matters can be dangerous as can leave people scared for life. They should be treated the same as people that are going through physical pain.
Though making sure services such as addiction counsel, psychologists and social workers are publicly funded would be a major leap in the right direction but there is still a lot of effort that is needed when it comes to educating people about these problems and actually take control of the matters and solving them for real.
Lack of funding for a developed economy seems like a joke. This needs to end and things need to take care of soon. With out proper mental health, people, children, workforce and every other aspect of life and economy could be severely and negatively be effected by this.
