Mental Health Week is an important week for millions across Canada, and one that the Canadian Mental Health Association takes very seriously every year.
Tara McKendrick, Executive Director of CMHA Niagara, says each year they pick a theme for the week to try and educate others.
The CMHA also offers a toolkit that’s available for free through their website, which helps break the stigma surrounding conversations about mental health.
McKendrick says she’s noticing more and more people being open about their mental health – which is a good thing.
With 330 community locations, CMHA is a nationwide organization that promotes mental health and supports people recovering from mental illness.
Mental health facts:
-Mental illness indirectly affects all Canadians at some time either through their own experience, or that of a family member, friend or colleague.
-In any given year, 1 in 5 people in Canada will personally experience a mental health problem or illness.
-By age 40, about 50% of the population will have or have had a mental illness.
-Mental illness affects people of all ages, education, income levels, and cultures; however, systemic inequalities such as racism, poverty, homelessness, discrimination, colonial and gender-based violence, among others, can worsen mental health and symptoms of mental illness, especially if mental health supports are difficult to access.
-Major depression affects approximately 5.4% of the Canadian population, and anxiety disorders affect 4.6% of the population.
-About 1% of Canadians will experience bipolar disorder (formerly called “manic depression”), and another 1% will experience schizophrenia.
-Eating disorders affect approximately 1 million Canadians – between 0.3-1% of the population. They impact women at a rate ten times that of men, and have the highest rate of mortality of any mental illness.
-Substance use disorders affect approximately 6% of Canadians.
-4,012 Canadians died by suicide in 2019.
(Written by: Matt Latour with files from CMHA)
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