Montrealers' mental health worse than other Quebecers since start of COVID-19 pandemic

MONTREAL -

The mental health of Montrealers is worse than that of other Quebecers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to public health officials.

They point out the mental health of those living in the city has deteriorated since last September, but the relaxing of measures in the spring has helped stabilize anxiety levels and depressive symptoms.

Stable, "but still higher than what we would normally expect," says Véronique Nadeau-Grenier, with the Direction régionale de santé publique de Montréal (DSPM) of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île de Montréal.

According to a recent report, one in three Montrealers admitted last February to having symptoms consistent with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or probable depressive disorder.

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"That's a lot of people," she says, noting elsewhere in Quebec, it is one in five people. "That's still a concern. It's still a problem, a big issue that needs to be brought forward."

She notes, however, that the symptoms were reported in a survey and not confirmed by clinical examination or diagnosis.

The data comes from the most recent 'COVID-19 Pandemic Psychosocial Impact Survey,' which looks at a period from December 2020 to February 2021.

In February, about 1 in 15 Montreal respondents said they had seriously considered suicide in the previous 12 months, compared to 1 in 20 in Quebec.

"There seems to be a link to the epidemiological situation" and the stabilizing of Montrealers' mental health, says Nadeau-Grenier, adding when the government started to announce certain measures would be lifted, it was almost as if many could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Public health officials have also done a lot of mental health campaigning since the start of the pandemic, including promoting crisis lines and various mental health support services.

With the data collected, it has become possible to prioritize certain groups, such as young adults, English speakers, essential workers and those in the health care network, explains Nadeau-Grenier.

"We can offer them more psychological support," she says.

WHY WORSE IN MONTREAL?

The psychological health of Montrealers was already worse than that of people in other cities before the pandemic, Nadeau-Grenier explains.

This could be because there are more young people and more people living with socio-economic vulnerabilities.

Montreal was also greatly affected by COVID-19, spending many weeks in a "red" zone with maximum restrictions and the province's highest number of infections.

"In addition, some important employment sectors in Montreal, such as tourism, food services and retail, were severely affected by the closure of non-essential services and travel restrictions, with significant economic consequences for Montrealers," the report says.

Data collection and analysis are ongoing for the summer period, but preliminary information seems to show an improvement in the mental health of Montrealers.

"We hope that this will not deteriorate with the return to school and the increase in cases that we are currently seeing," says Nadeau-Grenier, insisting everything must continue to be done to prevent the transmission of the virus.

This survey is based on a non-probability sample and is therefore not representative of the general population.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 30, 2021.