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The mental health of Canadians has deteriorated in the two years since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting massive pressure on a mental health care system that was already near breaking point.
In one new investigation conducted by the Angus Reid Institute in partnership with CBC, 54 per cent of Canadians said their mental health had deteriorated over the past two years – with women faring significantly worse than men.
Sixty percent of women aged 18-34 said their mental health had deteriorated throughout the pandemic, and that number rose to 63% for women aged 35-54 over the past two years.
The survey coincides with new search from the Canadian Mental Health Association and the University of British Columbia (UBC) which paints a bleak picture across the country of a mental health crisis unfolding in the shadow of COVID-19 .
Many Canadians are stressed about what might come next in the pandemic – with 64% of responses worrying about the emergence of new variants of coronavirus in the future, which could jeopardize plans to live with the virus in as public health measures are lifted.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents believed COVID-19 will circulate in the population for years to come, while researchers found that two years of pandemic-related stress, grief and trauma could have long-lasting repercussions. term on the mental health of some Canadians.
“After two years, Canadians feel really overwhelmed and exhausted,” said Margaret Eaton, National CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).
“There’s been an epidemic of chronic stress that’s been going on for so long, and people are feeling so much uncertainty, that we’re now concerned that it’s going to take a long time for them to get over this experience of the pandemic. »
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The situation is just as dire from a global perspective, with new search from the WorldHealth Organization which found that the first year of the pandemic increased levels of anxiety and depression worldwide by an astonishing 25%.
“The information we currently have on the impact of COVID-19 on mental health around the world is just the tip of the iceberg,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“This is a wake-up call to all countries to pay more attention to mental health and do a better job of supporting the mental health of their populations. »