Canadians experiencing increasing levels of anxiety and depression

Canadians are reporting levels of moderate to severe anxiety, loneliness and feelings of depression as high as early in the pandemic, found the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's (CAMH) ninth survey of Canadians’ pandemic health and substance abuse.   

The survey of adult Canadians was conducted between Jan. 7-11 in collaboration with research technology and consumer data collection company Delvinia.

One quarter of survey participants reported feeling moderate to severe anxiety, significantly higher than the 19.0 per cent reported in the last survey completed in July 2021. “Similar spikes were found in reports of loneliness (24.1 percent now compared to 18.8 per cent last summer) and feelings of depression (22.3 percent now compared to 18.6 per cent last summer),” says CAMH. 

Gender gap 

The survey also found a significant gender gap in the results with reported anxiety, loneliness and feelings of depression significantly higher among women, but only slightly up for men. 

"These larger increases among women may reflect that they are often carrying a disproportionate burden, including imbalances in caregiving responsibilities and frontline work," said Dr. Samantha Wells, survey co-lead and Senior Director at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at CAMH.   

On the frontlines 

There was also a jump in reported adverse mental health symptoms among respondents whose jobs expose them to a high risk of contracting COVID-19, with 37.0 per cent reporting moderate to severe anxiety compared to 23.5 per cent last summer, and 35.7 per cent reporting feelings of depression compared to 24.8 per cent last summer. These are the highest levels recorded since the pandemic began. 

"While people are incredibly resilient, as this pandemic wears on it's the people working on the frontlines who are among the most affected," added Dr. Wells. "Many, especially those in the healthcare sector, face significant stressors and unfortunately they risk reaching the point of burnout. Many people will eventually recover, but others may suffer. We need to make sure there are supports for those most affected."