Building empathy conquering apathy May 2018 - Canadians For A Civil Society

Building empathy conquering apathy Symposium 2018

Summary

The 2018 BECA symposium took place over two days: May 14 & May 15. This event was initiated by Judy Piercey, our board member from 2016 to 2017. We partnered with MacEwan University, NorQuest College, Robertson College and Edmonton Heritage Council to raise awareness about the mental health and emotional well-being of Refugees, Seniors, Youth and Adolescents, and Indigenous Canadians.

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Our Goals

To learn from those affected by mental health issues, the caregivers, and the professionals.
To facilitate dialogue, networking and understanding of the intersections between the impact of mental health issues.
To encourage innovation and collaboration by facilitating the flow of information between NGOs, decision-makers, and volunteers.
To raise awareness of the public and build community capacity to better respond to mental health issues and their impact.
To build momentum for deeper collaboration for the current and the future generations by creating awareness and educating communities by openly discussing and accepting mental illness as a significant issue in our province and our country.

Key Messages

Mental health issues are not only global issues. Canadian citizens experience substantial impacts, such as loss of life due to mental health issues.

- Research shows that mental illness is the main reason people die by suicide.¹
- More than 90% of people who die by suicide have a mental or addictive disorder. Depression is one of the most common causes of death.²
- Suicide is typically a result of the presence of many factors, for example, mental illness, marital breakdown, financial hardship, deteriorating physical health, significant loss, or lack of social support.³
- In Canada, 77-110 profoundly affected people will become newly bereaved by suicide.⁴
- Males are three times more likely to die by suicide than females. Females are 3-4 times more likely to attempt to end their lives. In addition, women are hospitalized 1.5 times more often than males for suicide-related behaviours. ⁵
- Although suicide deaths affect almost all age groups, those aged 40 to 59 had the highest rates.⁶

2. There is a significant economic impact in Canada due to a lack of treatment of mental health issues:

- No workplace can avoid mental illness.⁷
- Almost 6 million people or 1 in 5 Canadians are likely to experience a mental illness in their lifetime, ⁸ making mental illness the largest untreated epidemic facing the Canadian workforce.⁹ It is the prime working years that register many people with mental illness.¹⁰
- Early intervention and treatment can undoubtedly avoid unnecessary expenses for organizations in the cost of sick leave, absenteeism, average wage replacement, etc.¹¹
- The business world is particularly fierce, making employees not seek treatment for fear of being stigmatized and seen as the weakest link, hence, losing their career. Moreover, management chooses not to tackle the theme because of a lack of information about mental illness in general and the fear of liability.¹²