Concerns about mental health appear to be growing as the pandemic unfolds. Multiple sources indicate that the situation is producing a mental health crisis in Canada and abroad:
- Mental health related searches on the 211 Central Region website increased by 151% from the first to the third weeks of April.
- Morneau Shepell’s mental health index saw the biggest drop in April that they have ever recorded. They also found that 16% of Canadians experienced a very negative mental health impact owing to the crisis while 80% reported at least some sort of negative mental health impact.
- A mid-April poll of Ontario residents by Forum Research and Mainstreet Research found that 22.4% of residents in the City of Toronto reported extremely or very high stress in mid-April.
For more insights download our brief on COVID-19 and the repercussions for mental health in Toronto.
