Interesting Canadian Mental Illness Stats

Fighting mental illness one nickel at a time.

20 per cent of Canadians will experience [mental illness] in their lifetime

Men are 2.6 times more likely meet the criteria for substance dependence, while women are 1.5 times more likely to meet the criteria for mood and anxiety disorders.

70 per cent of mental health problems have their onset during childhood or adolescence, and young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are most likely to report experiencing problems with mental health and substance abuse.

In Canada, [mental illness] is the No. 1 cause of disability, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of disability claims and 70 per cent of the total costs of disability. And each day, 500,000 Canadians are absent from work due to psychiatric problems. According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the total estimated cost of mental illness, in terms of health care and lost productivity, is $51 billion.

Despite the prevalence of mental illness, [mental illness] receives only 5.5 per cent of our health care dollars

“Depression and Upper Class Economic Position”

In Occupational Class and Symptoms of Depression by Christopher Bagley from Social Science Medicine 7 (1973) 327-339, p.331, Bagley asserts, “The studies reviewed suggest that there is some support for the view that some types of ‘depression’ and upper class economic position are related…the finding may apply to…the classic manic depressive psychosis in particular.”

Well, I have done a bit of snipping in the above quotation (clearly evident by he ellipses) but the core idea remains the same.

Is there really a correlation?  It’s hard to tell.  It would be interesting to take one of my unscientific polls involving coworkers, but stigma around bipolarity is so great there are only two people I work with who have admitted to having a mental illness, and neither of them are bipolar.  Reading blogs of bipolar people, I do see a trend towards those with high stress, high paying jobs admitting to manic depression.  The recent ‘literature’ (thank you, Google) is mixed.   According to a September 10, 2010 article on Psychcentral.com, “People with bipolar disorder are more likely to be single, disabled, and have a lower income than people without the disorder, according to new research.”  Yet, a July 10, 2010 article on brighthub.com claims, “Studies have shown that those who have a higher socioeconomic status are more likely to suffer from bipolar disorder. One other interesting note is that those who are involved in creative arts have a 10 to 20% higher chance of developing this serious mental illness than those who are in the general population.”  The resources cited for this article include a 2007 reference from PsychCentral and a NIMH article.

IMHE(xperience), I feel I fall into the latter group simply due to the level of stress a career that qualifies for an upper class economic position entails. What I do for a living and where I do it is irrelevant.  The impact of what I do, however, is significant in that it has global ramifications.  No pressure, right?  Another significant stressful situation preceding my hospitalization was the threat of downsizing.  Virtually everyone I know has lived under the threat for the last 2.5 years.  Thankfully (I think), I was the only one who wound up in The Spa. (I did escape layoff myself.)

There most likely is a correlation between bipolar and socioeconomic standing, but to what overall end I am uncertain.  What I am sure of is the positive role my career plays in the severity of my own bipolarity.

Wonderful Husband

Had my check up with the pdoc today.  What we spent the most time on was talking with my husband about bipolar, what to expect, etc.  DH has actually been reading Living With Someone Who’s Living With Bipolar Disorder: A Practical Guide for Family, Friends, and Coworkers by Chelsea Lowe and Bruce M. Cohen MD PhD and held an in-depth conversation with doc as a result.  I can’t stress enough how wonderful my husband has been and how I would never have been able to make it this far without him.  Love you, Babe!