In Canada's universal health system, mental health care is not so universal: report
CBC
About 2.5 million people — nearly the populations of Manitoba and Saskatchewan combined — aren't getting adequate care for their mental health, according to a new report.
The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), which released the report on Tuesday, called it a map of the landscape of mental health, addictions and substance use in the country.
"We are not doing well," said Sarah Kennell, the group's national director of public policy, in an interview. "For many Canadians, mental health is in fact grim."
The report looked at 24 measures, from how much is being spent on care, to suicide rates and levels of discrimination against people with mental health concerns, with breakdowns by province and territory, where available.
On average, provinces and territories spend about 6.3 per cent of their overall health-care budgets on mental health, the report says, roughly half the 12 per cent that CMHA recommends. That's a fraction compared to a country like France, which also has a universal system and spends 15 per cent on mental health care.
Canada's figure has decreased over time, and hasn't kept pace with other health spending, said Dr. Kwame McKenzie, a psychiatrist and CEO of Toronto's Wellesley Institute, which researches public health issues. He was not involved in the CMHA report.
"That really surprised me. I thought we were doing better than we really are."
Leanne Minichillo recalls how difficult it was to get mental health care when she first went to an emergency department, years ago.
The vice-chair of CMHA's National Council of Persons with Lived Experience, Minichillo has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder and ADHD.
Though she sometimes spoke with a psychiatrist during university, it was after giving birth 12 years ago that she felt she should seek more help. She believed she was suffering from postpartum depression, and went to the emergency department.
She had wanted to see a professional for psychotherapy, but said she was disappointed to only be offered prescription medication.
"It was like, 'Well, here, you can take your prescription and you can go,'" Minichillo said. "But after that, right, you're on your own."
Others with lived experience also spoke of a disconnect between hospitals and community mental health care, the CMHA report's authors said, noting it contributes to re-admissions.
The report's main findings echoed this concern, calling federal funding and policy around mental health and substance use care "inadequate." It also said there was uneven access to such care and social support across Canada, and that this was difficult to actually measure, due to a lack of data.
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