The CAMIMH MHL Project Steering Committee selected COMPAS Research Inc. to conduct two surveys on mental health literacy in Canada. COMPAS designed the survey questionnaire with input from the CAMIMH Steering Committee and Project Team. The national survey on mental health literacy was completed in March 2006 with 1000 Canadians. The Aboriginal survey was conducted following the national survey and involved 355 First Nations/Métis/Inuit (FNMI) respondents. The survey report may be found in Appendix C.
The project team conducted two series of focus group discussions across Canada. The first round involved six groups with seniors and youth in five communities, in February 2005. The objective was to get a preliminary sense of the mental health literacy of Canadian seniors and youth and how closely it corresponded with the literature review findings, in preparation for the development of a national survey of the mental health literacy of Canadians. The second round of focus group discussions followed the national survey to obtain a deeper understanding of survey results and other pertinent research findings about mental health literacy. It involved ten discussions in seven cities across the country. In total, 126 people participated in the discussions including male, female, senior, youth, Francophone, Aboriginal and Multi-cultural participants. The full reports may be found in Appendix B and Appendix E.
The actual prevalence rate for mental disorders in Canada is approximately 20%–one in five Canadians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. Footnote 62 The COMPAS poll revealed that almost two-thirds of respondents estimate the prevalence of mental disorders as between one in 10 and one in five Canadians. However, about a third believes that one in 50 Canadians or fewer will experience a mental health disorder. First Nation/Métis/Inuit (FNMI) responses were similar to those of other Canadians. Health care workers were only slightly more accurate in their assessments of the frequency of mental illness compared to other Canadians. Youth were slightly more accurate than older people are.
A large majority of survey respondents agreed that anyone could suffer from mental health problems (90%), that mental health problems are widespread and should get proper attention but people are sometimes too embarrassed to talk about them (82%), and that untreated mental health problems can result in suicide (82%).
Most of the focus group participants asked to assess their own knowledge about mental health problems rated it as low, and many said they would like to learn more. However, they showed a reasonable knowledge of prevalence rates: Few were sure of the exact figures but most agreed that mental health problems are very common. A majority agreed that anyone could suffer from a mental health problem, although several thought the level of personal risk would depend on the type of mental health problem. For example, everyone may be vulnerable to common disorders such as mild depression or anxiety but not everyone is at risk for serious disorders. The idea that almost everyone would experience some kind of mental health problem at some point, either personally or through a family member or friend, emerged in almost every group.
Return to note 62 Government of Canada, 2006