Your life has been impacted by a mental health condition, but do you know how? While at least one in five Canadians will have a mental illness at some point during his or her lifetime, every one of us is affected at home, at work, or in other areas of our lives.
Mental health has such a significant impact, and is still so misunderstood, that this past year the leadership-focused Conference Board of Canada investigated what businesses can do to make work environments more accommodating.
The most common types of mental illness in Canada
Mental illness refers to a broad range of diseases and disorders, including:
- Anxiety disorders, the most common mental health issue,
- Mood disorders, like major depression and bipolar disorder,
- Schizophrenia, a disease that alters what someone believes is reality,
- Personality disorders, which can have from mild to serious impacts on the way an individual relates to other people,
- Eating disorders, like anorexia and bulimia, and
- Suicidal behaviour, which impacts thousands of lives every year but is difficult to predict.
Stigma can be hard to escape
Mental illness in your family can have a very direct impact on you. What about your workplace?
500,000 people miss work every day due to mental illness but if a co-worker was living with a mental health issue chances are they would never tell you; only half of Canadians would share their illness with a friend or co-worker. In contrast, 72% would would discuss a cancer diagnosis.
This reluctance to share may be because only half of Canadians (49%) said they would socialize with a friend who had a serious mental illness. This stigma prevents many people from seeking help that could make a significant improvement to their quality of life.
(Statistics compiled by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health)
Getting help
Reaching out for help on behalf of yourself or someone you care about takes courage, and at Stevenson, Waplak & Associates we respect your decision with confidentiality and compassion.
Our multi-disciplinary team works with our patients to create an individualized treatment plan, and we offer both individual and group therapy to help people understand this journey. Please contact us today to find out how we can help.