All articles

Young people making the transition to adulthood are a population at risk of developing mental health problems. The statistics are striking: those aged 15 to 24 have the highest prevalence of psychological distress, anxiety or depressive disorders, drug and alcohol related disorders and eating disorders. Suicide ranks second as a cause of death for this age group. The scope of these problems is reaching college (CEGEP) students. Initiatives launched in recent years have aimed at supporting these emergent clienteles, particularly young people with mental disorders and learning disabilities. To support the health needs and well-being of young people, the ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) and the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) published in 2010, the Cadre de référence pour soutenir la collaboration entre les centres de santé et de services sociaux (CSSS) et les collèges publics du Québec (Framework to support cooperation between CSSSs and public colleges in Quebec).

Mental health services are increasingly recognizing the key roles that primary care play in delivering mental health care in almost every community in Canada, and the importance of building collaborative partnerships to optimise these roles. Achieving this enables services to use their respective resources more efficiently, improve access to needed mental health and addiction services, better coordinate care, and improve the experience for the person seeking or receiving care for a mental health and addiction problem.

New Brunswick is facing a wellness crisis. As its population’s rates of obesity, inactivity and smoking were steadily rising, the Government of New Brunswick created the Department of Wellness, Culture and Sport in 2006 to help build a culture of well-being in the province.

Supported Self-Management (SSM) for mood problems is a form of intervention in which: distressed individuals are provided with workbooks or websites designed to teach behavioural skills for mood self-management; and a healthcare provider or other supporter acts as a coach to help learn and apply the self-management skills. This intervention has shown an impressive degree of effectiveness for common mental health problems of mild to moderate severity.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) is taking concerted action to transform the Canadian mental health landscape.

The Commission was created in 2007 following the most extensive consultations on mental health and mental illness ever conducted in Canada, during which thousands of people from coast to coast voiced their desire for a better mental health system.

People with mental health problems come to us seeking care on a daily basis. Complex issues and overcoming challenges are inevitable, therefore it is unrealistic to take on the task alone. Facing these issues effectively involves taking into account countless biopsychosocial factors and mastering very diverse specialized skills in interpersonal, diagnostic, therapeutic, social and community fields. Many clinicians have experienced the effectiveness of collaborating with various partners within their local network. In the context of a special report reviewing the literature on the effectiveness of collaborative mental health care in the treatment of depression, we will examine its daily clinical advantages experienced by both the population and clinicians.

As part of a scientific review on effective interventions in mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention, the INSPQ (2008) proposes a conceptual model for assessing the relevance of measures that can be implemented to promote health and prevent mental disorders.

Until the 1960s, the majority of mental health problems were treated in mental hospitals. Operating essentially as a daycare service, they often took in several thousand “patients”, and offered very little in structured treatments. However, things changed very quickly as a result of several factors: the introduction of antipsychotics, the development of medical specialization programs in psychiatry and, above all, patients’ criticisms regarding their living conditions in these hospitals.

Recent Canadian studies have shown that education, income and the cost of services are factors in the use of specialty providers of psychotherapy such as psychologists in primary care. Also, health policies should focus on rendering these services more accessible to disadvantaged individuals. To date, the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia have participated in the introduction of publicly funded psychological therapies.

Because of their high recurrence, experts now consider depressive and anxiety disorders to be chronic illnesses. Supported self-management (SSM) is an essential component in the Chronic Care Model, a standard to strive for when providing care for people with chronic illnesses, both physical and mental. Most clinical practice guidelines also recommend SSM for treating depressive and anxiety disorders (NICE, CANMAT).