The Costs of Mental Illness
Sep 10, 2012
September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. Almost every person in every community across Canada is touched in some way by mental health problems and illnesses. Fortunately, organizations like Partners for Mental Health (www.partnersformh.ca) are helping to get accurate information about mental illness out to the public and also to help dispel the many myths that surround it.
Approximately 4,000 suicides occur every year in Canada, and 87 percent of those who die from suicide have a diagnosable mental illness.
Mental health problems and illnesses are disturbances in patterns of thoughts, feelings and perceptions that are significant enough to affect day-to-day functioning. They cause changes in a person’s thinking, emotional state and behaviour and disrupt the person’s ability to work and carry out their personal relationships.
Mental health problems and illnesses cover a broad spectrum: from anxiety and depression to less common disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
To understand the magnitude of the impact of mental health issues on our society, the facts pretty much speak for themselves. One in five Canadians will have a mental health problem or illness this year. 500,000 Canadians on average are absent from work for psychiatric reasons every day. And one in three workplace disability claims are related to mental illness.
The economic impact of mental illness in Canada is estimated at $51 billion annually. Mental health problems and illnesses are the leading cost of productivity loss in Canada. It is estimated that 35 million work days are lost each year due to mental health problems and illnesses, and 20 percent of all sick leaves are due to mental health problems and illnesses.
Despite the valiant efforts of those Canadians who work in the mental health system, many of the important needs of people living with mental health problems and illnesses are, sadly, not being met. 1.6 million adult Canadians living with mental health problems are undiagnosed. Only about a third of those who have a mental illness in Canada report that they have sought and accessed mental health services.
We need to rally governments as well as the public to increase funding to mental health services. In Canada, only about 7.2 percent of publicly funded health expenditures went toward mental health services and support. Countries like the United Kingdom and New Zealand fund at levels over 10 percent.
We can and must do better.
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Reliance upon legal advice to justify a union‟s refusal to proceed to arbitration with a grievance has consistently been found by this Board to constitute a “potent defence to a duty of fair representation complaint”.
richard - 2012-09-16 15:24