Canadians appear to have reasonably good MHL regarding prevalence, awareness of warning signs, and ability to identify a mental disorder as such. These capacities would likely enhance the ability to identify a mental health problem and to intervene early. There is room for some improvement of general knowledge of mental health problems: many people underestimate the prevalence of mental disorders and many, especially youth, confuse other types of disorders with mental disorders.
Like people in other countries, Canadians are inclined to prefer psychosocial explanations for mental health problems, although they are more apt to identify biomedical causes for serious mental illness. It is debatable to what extent these tendencies represent an area for intervention. There is strong evidence for psychosocial causal influences especially prolonged stress, for common mental disorders. In addition, biomedical, particularly genetic, explanations can increase stigma and reduce optimism about recovery.
Compared to those studied in other research, Canadians are more inclined to recommend medical help for symptoms of mental disorders. However, they are still somewhat ambivalent about medical care, especially for common mental health problems and with regard to psychiatric medications, as found in other studies. Focus group results show that many people would like access to a range of treatment options, but many have a poor understanding of the different options available.
Canadians are generally optimistic about the prospect of recovery from mental disorders, but more so for common mental health problems compared to serious disorders.
Stigma and discrimination toward persons with mental disorders remain somewhat problematic in Canada, although more so for serious mental illness. Canadians know that stigma and discrimination towards mental disorders exist, and they exhibit some reluctance about disclosing mental health problems especially in the workplace, for fear of stigma and discrimination.
Public education about mental disorders may help to reduce stigma. Because Canadians prefer to maintain a distinction between common mental health problems and serious disorders, targeted anti-stigma campaigns may be most effective. For less serious mental disorders, initiatives that emphasize the commonness of mental health problems appear to be helpful. As fear of stigma can deter treatment seeking, access to self-help interventions represents a promising practice. Workplace initiatives are needed to manage people’s concerns about disclosing mental health problems at work. Community development and self-help initiatives including training in communication and advocacy, would support mutual empowerment for social action to reduce stigma, end discriminatory practices, and improve services.