Mental Health Issues In Canada

Mental health is an ongoing concern to many Canadians. One of the largest issues around mental health revolves around society’s pressures of being able to sustain a socially acceptable lifestyle. Which are all dependant on the individual’s career, the role that the individual plays in the community, how independent and stable an individual is. Although many Canadians are reluctant to admit to suffering from mental health-related issues, mental health is becoming an increasingly relevant issue. When it comes to mental, all aspects of an individual’s life are impacted, such as relationships with others, personal factors, and ability to work. Correspondingly, The Mental Health Commission of Canada reports that every week, 500,000 people will

Although numbers are climbing, Canadians are still in the dark about mental health. Ironically, we are in a digital age, where it is acceptable to post anything and everything, yet when it comes to concerns like mental health, society paints a very inaccurate picture. The stigma around mental health is a huge influence on why Canadians are reluctant to seek help. There are many misconceptions about mental illness, for instance, the majority of these individuals do not pose a physical risk to others, a mental illness can be a long-term illness and is as serious as all other illnesses. Canadians need to be educated on the importance of mental health because the majority of mental illness have an etiological factor to them. Meaning, that if society knew more about mental illness, we might make better life choices if we knew our mental health history. And the more educated society becomes, the better we can deal with mental illness, and help those who are in need of

Educating society on mental health would help break away from stereotypical labels; creating a more open and understanding society. During my interview with a man, I will call John for the integrity of the patient’s identity, these concerns were addressed. John suffers from a mental illness called schizophrenia, a psychotic disorder that involves hallucinations, delusions, catatonic behavior, and psychosis (Dozois, 2013). John was 21 when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. prior to his diagnosis, John grew up in a caring and loving home environment, his father was a lawyer and his mother a school teacher, John's mother described him as a social child, “He was always playing with his sister, and the other children from the neighborhood” Johns mother (Personal communication, 02,21,18). Although he enjoyed socializing, John enjoyed his alone time, his mother never thought anything of it. John was in high school when his first “episode” occurred, he described his episode as being a “mental breaking point”, he was 17 at the time, he had received a scholarship to the University of Alberta for the fall following his graduation. Up until this point, John had been working terribly hard at school for his scholarship and working a part-time job to pay for his