Mental health is "the capacity of each and all of us to feel, think, and act in ways that enhance our ability to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face. It is a positive sense of emotional and spiritual wellbeing that respects the importance of culture, equity, social justice, interconnections and personal dignity."[1]
Why is this important?
People experience different levels of mental health throughout their life. People with mental health conditions may have times when they feel well and times when their mental health is poor.[2] Programs, services and treatments are available for people experiencing poor mental health or dealing with a mental health condition.[2,3] Prevention, early intervention and treatment are all important to support positive mental health and prevent mental health challenges.[4]
Mental health and overall wellbeing are connected in many ways. People who struggle with mental illness are more likely to have chronic illnesses.[5] A mental illness can impact a person's ability to pursue education or to find employment, both of which affect a person's ability to earn a decent income.[6] Mental health and poverty are connected. Children and youth who live in poverty are more likely to have mental health problems than children not living in poverty.[7] People with the lowest incomes are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, mood disorders, Alzheimer's or dementia and schizophrenia.[8]
Indicators
Note: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted mental health in our community.[9] Many Canadians have reported worsening mental health and increased stress, anxiety, and feelings of depression during the pandemic.[10,11] As a result, the data presented below may not accurately reflect current mental health in Guelph and Wellington County.
Self-Rated Mental Health |
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Measure: Self-Perceived Mental HealthSelf-perceived mental health presents the subjective measure of an individual's mental health as either excellent, very good, good, fair or poor. Self-perceived mental health is captured as part of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS).
Why is Self-Rated Mental Health Important?Self-rated mental health gives us information about how people perceive their mental health and wellbeing. This measure captures information that may not show up in self-reports of physical health.[12] LimitationsSelf-reported information is impacted by response bias and the ability of respondents to remember their past experiences and emotions. Looking for more information?Please download the excel file below for:
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Stress |
Measure: Self-Perceived StressPerceived life stress presents the subjective measure of the amount of stress in an individual’s life, on most days, as either extremely, quite a bit, a bit, not very, or not at all stressful. Perceived life stress is captured as part of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). Key FindingsFrom 2015 to 2017, the proportion of females and males in Wellington County (including Guelph) who reported that most days in their life were 'quite a bit' or 'extremely’ stressful was almost the same (24% and 25%, respectively). Across Ontario, females were more likely to report that most days in their life were 'quite a bit' or 'extremely' stressful (24%) when compared to males (20%).
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*Wellington County includes the City of Guelph in this graph. Source: Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). Statistics Canada, Annual Content (2015-2017), Ontario Share File distributed by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Prepared by: Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. Why is Stress Important?Stress is a person's physical response to a threat. People experience stress in response to both real and perceived threats.[13] Perceived life stress is how much daily stress a person experiences, on average.[12] Stress can be positive or negative. The right amount of stress can motivate or help a person focus.[13] Too much stress, especially over time, can impact a person's physical health. Physical health effects of stress include headaches, sleep problems and even heart disease or stroke. Mood and mental health effects of stress include anxiety, lack of motivation, or depression. Stress can contribute to negative health behaviours such as over- or under-eating, using substances or becoming socially isolated.[12,14] LimitationsSelf-reported information is impacted by response bias and the ability of respondents to remember their past experiences and emotions. Looking for more information?Please download the excel file below for:
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Mental Health Conditions |
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Mental health conditions are “disturbances in thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that are severe enough to affect day-to-day functioning”.[15] However, having a mental health condition does not mean that a person’s mental health is poor. All people, regardless of whether they have a mental health condition, may have times when they feel well and times when they are struggling with their mental health. Mood and anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions in Canada.[16]
In 2019, 14% of Canadians age 12 years and older reported having a diagnosed mood and/or anxiety disorder.[19] The true prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders will be underestimated because there is no way to count people with undiagnosed anxiety and mood disorders. There may be a high proportion of people with symptoms who do not seek treatment from health professionals and therefore go undiagnosed.[20,21] The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted mental health in our community.[22] Many Canadians have reported worsening mental health and increased stress, anxiety, and feelings of depression during the pandemic.[22,23]
Why are Mental Health Conditions Important?When people struggle with a mental health condition, their relationships, social interactions, physical health, employment and economic situation are often impacted.[5,26,27] Mental health conditions are treatable.[3] Prevention, early intervention and treatment are all important.[4] |
Suicidal Behaviour |
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If you feel suicidal, please call HERE 24/7 at 1-844-437-3247 (1-844-HERE247). Suicidal behaviour is when a person tries to kill themself or creates the appearance of trying to kill themself.[21] Suicide is preventable. Usually there are signs that a person is considering suicide.[22] Mental health conditions and harmful use of alcohol are two risk factors for suicide.[23] In 2012, suicide was the 9th most common reason for death across Canada.[24] Death by suicide is underreported for a number of reasons, including misclassification and stigma.[25] No local measures are available at this time. For local data about self-harm please go to our section on injury and mortality. |
Notes
The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) is a cross-sectional survey that collects information related to health status health care utilization and health determinants for the Canadian population age 12 years and older. The CCHS uses probability sampling and is conducted annually by Statistics Canada.
In probability sampling, each person in the sample represents (besides themselves) several other persons in the sample. A sample weight is calculated based on the number of people that that person represents within the population. For example, in a random sample of 1% of the population, each person in the sample would represent 100 persons in the population.[34]
References
[1] Public Health Agency of Canada. (2014). Mental Health Promotion. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/mh-sm/mhp-psm/index-eng.php
[2] Canadian Mental Health Association (2017). Mental Health. http://ontario.cmha.ca/mental-health/
[3] Canadian Mental Health Association. (n.d.). Mental Health Conditions. http://ontario.cmha.ca/mental-health/mental-health-conditions/
[4] Santor, D., Short, K., & Ferguson, B. (2009). Taking mental health to school: A policy-oriented paper on school-based mental health Ontario. The Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO.
[5] Galson, S. K. (2009). Mental Health Matters. Public Health Report, 124(2), 198-191.
[6] Canadian Mental Health Association. (2007). Poverty and Mental Illness. http://ontario.cmha.ca/public_policy/poverty-and-mental-illness/#.Vyuir8dwqFI
[7] Lipman, E. L., & Boyle, M. H. (2008). Linking poverty and mental health: A lifespan view. The Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO.
[8] Lightman, E., Mitchell, A., & Wilson, B. (2008). Poverty is Making us Sick: A Comprehensive survey of income and health in Canada. http://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/povertyismakingussick.pdf
[9] Toward Common Ground, The Guelph Community Foundation, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, City of Guelph, The Corporation of the County of Wellington, & Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team. (2020). Guelph and Wellington County VitalFocus: The impact of COVID-19 on mental health in our community. http://www.towardcommonground.ca/en/resourcesGeneral/Vital-Focus.MentalHealth-Final-Dec.-24-2020.pdf
[10] Statistics Canada. (2020, May 27). Canadians' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200527/dq200527b-eng.htm
[11] Statistics Canada. (2021, September 27). Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health, February to May 2021. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210927/dq210927a-eng.htm
[12] Statistics Canada. (2017). Health Status. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-221-x/2013001/def/def1-eng.htm
[13] Canadian Mental Health Association. (2016). Stress. http://www.cmha.ca/mental_health/stress/#.WOOgP1KZPEY
[14] Mayo Clinic. (2017). Healthy Lifestyle: Stress Management. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050987
[15] Canadian Mental Health Association. (2020, January 13). Mental health: What is it really? https://cmha.ca/mental-health-what-is-it-really/
[16] Public Health Agency of Canada. (2015). Mood and anxiety disorders in Canada: Fast facts from the 2014 Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/mood-anxiety-disorders-canada.html
[17] Canadian Mental Health Association. (2015, December 18). Depression and bipolar disorder. https://cmha.ca/brochure/depression-and-bipolar-disorder/
[18] Canadian Mental Health Association. (2016, February 28). Anxiety disorders. https://cmha.ca/brochure/anxiety-disorders/
[19] Statistics Canada. (2020). Understanding the perceived mental health of Canadians prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200806/dq200806a-eng.htm
[20] O'Donnell, S., Vanderloo, S., McRae, L., Onysko, J., Patten, S. B., & Pelletier, L. (2016). Comparison of the estimated prevalence of mood and/or anxiety disorders in Canada between self-report and administrative data. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 25(4), 360-369.
[21] Lim, K. L., Jacobs, P., Ohinmaa, A., Schopflocher, D., Dewa, C. S. (2008). A new population-based measure of the economic burden of mental illness in Canada. Chronic Diseases in Canada, 28, 92-98.
[22] Statistics Canada. (2020, May 27). Canadians' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200527/dq200527b-eng.htm
[23] Statistics Canada. (2021, September 27). Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health, February to May 2021. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210927/dq210927a-eng.htm
[24] Wong, C. (2022 May 9). 3,670 people on growing waitlist for mental health and addiction services in Waterloo-Wellington. https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/3-670-people-on-growing-waitlist-for-mental-health-and-addiction-services-in-waterloo-wellington-1.5895637
[25] Canadian Mental Health Association. (2022). Running on empty: How community mental health organizations have fared on the frontlines of COVID-19. CTV News Kitchener.https://cmha.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Running-on-empty-Full-Paper-Report-EN-Final.pdf
[26] Pearson, C., Janz, T., & Ali, J. (2015). Health at a Glance. Mental and substance use disorders in Canada. Statistics Canada. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-624-x/2013001/article/11855-eng.htm
[27] O'Donnell, S., Vanderloo, S., McRae, L., Onysko, J., Patten, S. B., & Pelletier, L. (2016). Comparison of the estimated prevalence of mood and/or anxiety disorders in Canada between self-report and administrative data. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 25(4), 360–369.
[28] O'Carroll, P. W., Berman, A. L., Maris, R. W., Moscicki, E. K., Tanney, B. L., & Silverman, M. M. (1996). Beyond the Tower of Babel: A nomenclature for suicidology. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 26(3), 237–252.
[29] Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (2012). Suicide. https://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/health_information/a_z_mental_health_and_addiction_information/suicide/Pages/default.aspx
[30] World Health Organization. (2014). Preventing Suicide: A global imperative. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241564779
[31] Statistics Canada. (2015). Death and Mortality Rate by Selected Grouped Causes, Age and Sex in Cansim Table 102-0561. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
[32] Government of Canada. (2016). Working Together to Prevent Suicide in Canada: The Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/canada/public-health/migration/publications/healthy-living-vie-saine/framework-suicide-cadre-suicide/alt/framework-suicide-cadre-suicide-eng.pdf
[33] Canadian Institute for Health Information. (2016). Hospital Mental Health Database, 2014-2015: User Documentation. https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/HMHDB-Data-Quality-Document-2014-2015-External_EN_web.pdf
[34] Statistics Canada. (2015). Canadian Community Health Survey - Annual Component (CCHS). Available at: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3226