workplace culture
Mental Health is
Everyone’s Concern
HOW CAN YOUR WORKPLACE HELP?
By Dr. Sam Mikail
Mental health is an invisible illness that impacts the lives
of half (49 per cent) of all Canadians. In a 2017 sur-vey
commissioned by Sun Life Financial, comprised
of a random sample of 2,900 Canadians drawn from
the Ipsos online panel, 49 per cent of Canadians responded by
saying that they’ve experienced challenges with mental health at
some point in their lives. Mood and anxiety disorders are among
the most prevalent mental disorders experienced by Canadians
with 37 per cent dealing with anxiety and 30 per cent having lived
through depression at some point in their life.
Millennials (those ages 20 to 34) reported the highest inci-dence
of mental health concerns; a finding that is not particularly
surprising. Early adulthood is a time of rapid change and increas-ing
life demands. Millennials are just entering the workforce and
trying to establish their career path. They may be carrying signif-icant
student debt, seeking a life partner or facing the pressure of
saving for a home. Although these are normal challenges, they can
have a significant impact on mental well-being.
Stigma surrounding mental health continues to be an area
of concern. The Sun Life survey also found that a mere 28 per
cent of working Canadians impacted by a mental health issue
told their employer what they were going through. Once again,
Millennials led the pack with 33 per cent of those living with men-tal
health concerns stating they had not even spoken to a health
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