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home / 世界杯决赛2022

ubc-led study finds almost half of canadian men at risk for depression

"if we could see (mental health problems) in the same way that you could see broken legs and broken arms, i think any right-minded person would be extremely shocked" - mike schilling, ceo of community savings credit union

by derrick penner

oct 24 2022
read time 2 minute read
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dr. john ogrodniczuk is head of psychotherapy at ubc and the study's lead. kim stallknecht / vancouver sun
nearly half of canadian men are at risk of depression, according to a study led by university of b.c. researchers, with one in three reporting thoughts of suicide or self-harm, reinforcing the conclusion that a serious gap remains in the availability of mental health care, particularly through the workplace.
“this is a serious public health crisis,” said dr. john ogrodniczuk, head of psychotherapy at ubc and the study’s lead. “we need to talk about it and start taking action.”
“the findings of this survey reveal shockingly high levels of suicidal ideation by men in the workplace,” ogrodniczuk added in a news release that unveiled the findings on monday.
b.c.’s community savings credit union sponsored the survey, which was conducted between june of 2021 and february 2022, and saw 1,450 participants complete the 148-item survey of standardized, validated questions.
from the answers, almost half of respondents were above the threshold for likely major depression, one of the strongest risk factors for suicide, which remains the second leading cause of death for men under 50, according to the results.
one-third of respondents reported experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-injury “at least a few times a week,” and 55 per cent reported feeling lonely.

while issues of mental health aren’t exclusive to work or to men, the workplace does “(provide) organizational infrastructure and frameworks that can be used to support mental health,” said ogrodniczuk, the founder of the headsupguys program , a free resource for directing people to mental health supports.

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mike schilling, ceo of community savings credit union.
mike schilling, ceo of community savings credit union. jpg
and workplaces can play a role in shaping “workplace norms that reduce stigma and facilitate help-seeking,” said mike schilling, ceo of community savings credit union.
“if we could see (mental health problems) in the same way that you could see broken legs and broken arms, i think any right-minded person would be extremely shocked,” schilling said. “that’s what we’re trying to do with this research. we’re trying to make it as clear as physical health issues could be.”
adding mental health supports to the provincial system, through legislation, would be key, schilling said, but “whilst we wait for legislation, what we need is progressive employers, good employers, to take a lead and put mental wellbeing on par with physical wellbeing.”
as b.c.’s biggest fully unionized credit union, schilling said community savings sees itself as a champion of worker wellbeing. a year ago, community savings backed a study that looked at the covid-19 pandemic disproportionally affected women’s mental health.
as a follow up, participating with ogrodniczuk and headsupguys seemed like a natural fit, schilling said.
organizationally, schilling said community savings is trying to set an example with measures such as replacing the term “sick days” with the term “health days,” to help curb some of the stigma around mental health.
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“we recognize that if people need to take time away from work, that’s abut promoting health rather than associated with sickness,” schilling said.
and community savings makes all employees eligible for a minimum of $2,000 a year for counselling or other mental-health related services.
“these are the sort of changes that we need to make in terms of how we reframe (mental health),” schilling said.
depenner@postmedia.com
twitter.com/derrickpenner

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