Addressing mental health will require fresh resolve

Responding to the physical threat of COVID-19 is proving to be no easy feat. From procuring vaccines to booking portals and creating pop-up vaccination sites, it’s a monumental task demanding that all levels of government act in a spirit of co-operation. Like everyone across Canada, I am watching this incredible effort take shape with the hope that it will mean winning the race against the spread of new variants. Still, as I assume the helm at the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), I can’t help but think about our preparations for the nation’s next great challenge: mustering our resolve to address the mental health implications of the pandemic, which will linger long after we’ve rolled up our sleeves for the vaccine. While we should always seek to intervene early to ensure the best possible mental health outcomes, we cannot turn a blind eye to the upcoming post-pandemic fallout. It will likely be complex and multi-layered and affect different populations in distinct ways. Women, for instance, have borne the brunt of job losses and have carried the heavier burden of child care. Among mothers who remain employed during the pandemic, one third have thought about leaving their jobs. The mental health impacts of these setbacks are as real as the financial losses they bring. To use one example, we know from a joint MHCC survey, conducted in collaboration with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), that just 28 per cent of women in households with children under 13 reported excellent or very good mental health during the pandemic, compared to 45 per cent among men. Before COVID-19, women were already two-and-a-half times more likely than men to experience depression and one-and-a-half times more likely to experience anxiety. The weight of the pandemic has also disproportionally fallen on the shoulders of racialized populations, who were more likely to contract the virus—for the same socio-economic reasons that create barriers to sufficient mental health care. In one study, 37.5 per cent of African, Caribbean, and Black respondents reported COVID-19-related financial insecurity. Lower paying front-line jobs and lack of paid sick time aren’t just precursors of greater susceptibility to the virus. They also tilt the playing field when it comes to mental wellness. And they are compounded by the justifiable mistrust of the health and mental health systems that translate into social barriers to seeking care that are very real—if invisible. The explosion in e-mental health care—like the federal government’s groundbreaking Wellness Together Canada portal—can bridge many important gaps, but this way forward on its own will inevitably leave many behind. As someone who has been separated from close, elderly loved ones throughout the pandemic, I am keenly aware that staying connected virtually has its limits, and I recognize that some of those same challenges apply to virtual mental health care. While statistics may tell us that seniors “on the whole” are reporting reasonably good levels of mental health, they paint a distressingly incomplete picture—ignoring the deep pockets of need in long-term care and the profoundly worsening isolation experienced by seniors living with dementia. But perhaps we can have the greatest ability to effect positive change, and bend the cost curve down across the lifespan, by addressing the mental health challenges faced by young people—whose very lives were put on hold at a critical stage of their development. Impaired social interactions, reduced access to schooling, lack of activities and routines, and the grief of losses big and small, may leave an indelible impression on young lives. This is also borne out in our survey with CCSA, in which half of youth aged 16-24 describe their mental health as hovering at the low end of the scale. Now is the time to ensure that we have the right kinds of supports for young people, when and where they need them. Endeavours like the post-secondary standard for psychological health and safety—which helps institutes of higher learning to co-create healthier campuses—are a huge step in the right direction, but there is much work to be done to meet the growing need of all our youth. Now, more than ever, addressing mental health is a top priority for people in Canada, and leaders are being called upon to ensure the best possible care is available when and where it’s needed most. That’s why the MHCC is working across many fronts to address some of these urgent needs. But our collective success will depend on having partners across every sector, in every jurisdiction, working hand-in-glove, as we continue to leverage resources and expertise to create improved mental health outcomes. How we address these challenges may be worthy of debate. That we must do so should not be in question. Michel Rodrigue is president and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. The Hill Times

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Addressing mental health will require fresh resolve

Our collective success will depend on having partners across every sector, in every jurisdiction, working hand-in-glove, as we continue to leverage resources and expertise to create improved mental health outcomes.

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