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Science, Health & Technology
If you’re feeling like the pandemic is never-ending, you’re not alone. Sixty-four Percent of British Columbians fear that the COVID-19 Pandemic will continue for many years. Climate change is also a concern.
Recent results from a national survey on mental health conducted by UBC researchers in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association, (CMHA), showed that this sentiment was reflected across the country. 57% of respondents were concerned that COVID-19 would continue to circulate throughout the country for many years. In BC, 65% of people are concerned by new strains. Nearly half (48%) of respondents in the province are concerned about the compounding effect of COVID-19, alongside the climate crisis.
Dr. Emily Jenkins
This is the fourth round. Assessment of the Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19Survey led by Dr. Emily Jenkins (she/her), an associate professor in the school of nursing at UBC, and Dr. Anne Gadermann (she/herAssistant professor in school of population health. It was conducted almost a full year after the previous survey. It was completed in December 2021 by a nationally representative sample consisting of 3,030 adults 18 years and older living in Canada.
And it’s the first time the survey has included a question about climate change anxiety, says Dr. Jenkins. “With the heat domes and atmospheric rivers B.C. In 2021, there was increased awareness about climate crisis effects and mental health struggles. All these different issues were colliding and we wanted to account for that.”
Differential effects
Dr. Jenkins said that these latest results were consistent with previous rounds. They highlighted inequalities in how different populations are affected by the pandemic.
Dr. Anne Gadermann
Forty-one percentage of people in B.C. 41% of B.C. residents say that their mental health has declined in the wake of the pandemic. This compares with 37% nationally. These numbers are higher in vulnerable groups like those who are unemployed because of COVID-19 (54%), have a preexisting mental condition (54%), identify as LGBTQ2+ (49%), or have a disability (44%).
She says that such inequalities are dividing our society into haves or have-nots when mental health and illness is concerned. “The pandemic has made it impossible to ignore the longstanding service gaps and systemic barriers in our systems.”
“We’re seeing the signs of chronic stress on the population,” says Margaret Eaton (she/her), national chief executive officer of CMHA. “It’s time to check the engine light on our mental health system.” CMHA also released a New report today, Running on empty: How community mental health organizations fared on the frontlines under COVID-19.Interviews with Canadian community mental health agencies to see how they responded to the pandemic.
Canadians don’t know where to go for help, but coping well with stress
Nearly one-in-five respondents, or 17 percent, lived in B.C. felt they needed help with their mental health during the pandemic but didn’t receive it. Among those, 35 per cent didn’t know how or where to get help, 41 per cent indicated they couldn’t afford to pay for it, and 37 per cent reported that access to care was limited.
“Improving Canadians’ mental health is about more than just increasing access to care,” says Dr. Gadermann. “We need to address the root causes of mental health inequities through promotion and prevention, in addition to treatment.”
The good news is that the majority of respondents in B.C. 76% of respondents in B.C. reported that they were able to cope with the stress associated with the pandemic. Exercise or going for walks was identified as one of their key coping strategies.
“We need to ensure equitable access to treatment and services, take action on the social and structural issues that cause these inequities, and sustain investment in these efforts beyond the conclusion of the pandemic. It’s time to put in the work to address the longstanding barriers to good mental health in our society,” says Dr. Jenkins.
You can access the complete summary of the findings here Click here.
Interview language(s), English (Jenkins and Gadermann).
