Report paints 'fuller picture' of mental health in Canada

OTTAWA -- Canadians are stressed out about having to care for older family members at a time when an aging population means more people will require such care, says a new report by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

The report, released Thursday, also found that suicide rates are higher here than in some other G8 nations.

Among those 15 and over who provided care to an immediate family member with a long-term health condition, 16.5 per cent reported "very high" levels of stress, the report found.

The problem is expected to worsen due to increasing rates of dementia and other chronic illnesses, which is why caregiving is among four of 13 mental-health indicators deemed areas of "significant concern" by the commission.

So too are suicide rates, intentional self-harm among college students and mental health recovery.

Nearly 20 per cent of university students said they had engaged in self-harm in the past, the study found.

The commission also determined that in 2011, 10.8 out of every 100,000 people - or 3,728 Canadians - died from suicide. In Canada, suicide rates, while stable over time, are higher than in some other G8 countries, the study concluded.

The commission is hoping the indicators will be used to develop broad strategies regionally and federally that will improve the mental health of Canadians.

"We want to see mental health on the same playing field as ... other important health indicators in Canada," the commission's Jennifer Vornbrock told a news conference.

Vornbrock, who worked for years at a B.C. health authority, called mental health "the poor cousin of the poor cousin of the health-care system."

She added: "We would like to see that mental health is prioritized amongst all the health spending, all the health-care priorities."

The Conservative government created the Mental Health Commission of Canada in 2007. The organization, although funded by Health Canada, operates at arm's length from the government and has a 10-year mandate.

By April, the commission will provide details on close to 60 indicators involving children, youth, adults and seniors in a variety of settings.

Thursday's study also found those seeking Canada Pension Plan disability benefits related to mental health issues represent more than 30 per cent of all claims. That figure has steadily increased since 2004, and is higher than disability benefits claimed for other health reasons.

The Conservative government has been under fire for months for a growing backlog of 11,000 social security cases, most involving Canadians denied Canada Pension Plan disability benefits and waiting for their appeals to be heard.

The commission says there could be a silver lining to the data indicating so many CPP disability claims are mental health-related.

"It is possible that the increase does mean that there is more acceptance and recognition, despite the backlog, that mental health claims are legitimate and must be supported," said Elliot Goldner, a University of Toronto psychiatrist and researcher and former commission official.