Page 12 - GBGH Foundation - Mental Health Case For Support
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MENTAL HEALTH IS HEALTH.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
No one should have to wait days • Things that can impact mental well-being include job stress, money
challenges, discrimination, care giver burdens, the loss of a loved one
and other tragic circumstances.
or weeks for the care they need.
• About half of adults will have a mental health issue at some point in
It’s heartbreaking. their lives. The good news is we are talking about it more than ever.
• Young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental
illness and/or substance use disorders than any other age group.
“Nurses have come to me in tears because they feel hopeless in being able to
support patients that languish for days in our Emergency Department waiting • 39% of Ontario high-school students indicate a moderate-to-serious
level of psychological distress (symptoms of anxiety and depression).
for a mental health bed. Some of these patients are children. People come A further 17% indicate a serious level of psychological distress.
to the hospital to get care and when we are unable to provide that care, it is • Mental illness and substance use disorders are leading causes of
heartbreaking for our patients, their families and our teams. disability in Canada.
• About 4,000 Canadians per year die by suicide – an average of almost
Our community needs and deserves access to equitable care. We want better 11 suicides a day. It affects people of all ages and backgrounds.
care for our patients and the community. By supporting this campaign, you are • The stigma is real. People are nearly three times less likely to want
helping us reach that goal.” to disclose a mental illness like depression than a physical one like
cancer*.
– LINDA GRAVEL, VP OF CLINICAL SERVICES AND CHIEF NURSING EXECUTIVE
• The presence of a mental illness contributes to the worsening of other
conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, epilepsy
and cancer treatments.
• Rates of tobacco use, alcohol abuse and illicit drug problems increase
in the presence of mental illness.
DID Y OU KNO W
• Children of affluence are generally presumed to be at low risk.
Because of the lack of beds for mental health patients, GBGH However, recent studies have suggested problems in several
often admits patients to our acute area to free up space within domains—notably, substance use, anxiety, and depression—and two
the emergency department. Over 30% of those patients admitted
to an acute bed while waiting for a mental health bed are waiting sets of potential causes including: pressures to achieve and isolation
over three days before they could begin their mental health healing from parents.
journey.
• Pre COVID nearly 2.3 million Canadians said they had unmet or partially
Having a program at GBGH would allow us to address any acute unmet mental health needs. Over ¾ of those mentioned the largest
medical issues at the same time as helping patients through their two barriers being not knowing where to get help and help not being
mental health challenges. readily available as the reason they did not get care. GBGH wants to
change this for our local community. Our doors are open 24/7 to care
and we want to ensure every resident knows in their time of crisis they
can come here.
12 • MENTAL HEALTH CASE FOR SUPPORT
*https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics
