Shaila Baumbach
Staff Reporter
Mental health issues have become a crisis in Canada, but it is also a global problem for this generation where more people are on social media and there is a lot of comparison. According to CMHA (Canadian mental health association) in any given year, one in five people in Canada will personally experience a mental health problem or illness and by the age of 40, about 50% of the population will have or have had a mental illness.
It’s hard to believe but it’s true and, if you imagine that right now over 450 million people worldwide are struggling with mental health according to Global Health Organization (from the article “Camh-the crisis is real”). The last 2 years of covid increased the risks because of the quarantine that took over 1 year and the distance rules.
It also has a big impact on people’s work because of the mental illness the lose productivity can lead to lose their job because of work disabilities. This often happened and that’s why more and more people are wanted and needed for jobs. Mostly teenagers were affected by mental illness in the time of covid because they couldn’t see their friends or couldn’t talk to anyone. It was a big challenge for many of them.
The average of dead cases also got higher and if we look back to the estimation from the World Health Organization, about one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds and over 4000 Canadians die by suicide every year.
Therapies are getting expensive but there is a huge amount of health care cost that every person is paying, and most people cannot effort it that’s why help is needed especially for them. Also, Canada has a doctor shortage which means They have to less doctors for people that needs them. The article “A severe doctor shortage in Canada is fast approaching, RBC report says” written by Noella Ovid says: “The doctor shortage is having an impact on the broader health-care system. Without quick access to doctors, patients are turning to emergency departments already overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
There are several numbers that you can call when you need help or are having a mental health issue and need someone to talk to call +1-866-585-0445 and when you are in danger and need emergency call 911. It is important to know that there are people that can help us and support us even if we have nobody to talk to.