Let’s invest more in mental health
Octobre 10, 2020 - Mental health issues have been on the rise since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. The social and economic consequences of the lockdown have caused many Canadians to experience unmanageable stress and anxiety, which, in some cases, has produced clinical illnesses. Meanwhile, some of the people who were already grappling with mental health issues before the pandemic have become ever more vulnerable.
The loss of bearings, isolation, the unmanageable extra burden on families, the uncertainty about the future have become unbearable to many people. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, more Canadians are thinking about suicide during the pandemic, which we should all be concerned about.
Every year, World Mental Health Day affords us an opportunity to focus greater attention on mental health, but this year the issue is of greater interest given the circumstances. This year’s Let’s invest campaign reminds us of the importance of allocating adequate resources to supporting mental health initiatives.
Resources for Federal Public Service Employees
Through its participation on the Joint Task Force on Mental Health and other working groups and committees, CAPE has invested time and effort to keep government’s attention on the mental health of its employees, advocating for more and better measures to support employees struggling with mental health issues. Those efforts have delivered positive results over the years.
Members who want to know more about the programs the government has put in place to assist them as they go through difficult times should check out the website of the Centre of Expertise on Mental Health in the Workplace to get the assistance and the support they need.
Also, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had put together a list of resources to help our members, which you can access on this page: COVID-19: Mental Wellness and Personal Safety.
We continue to call on the federal government to approach mental health compassionately and to do everything it can to support federal public service employees as they deal with the immense stress and anxiety caused by one of the biggest health crises of our time.
