‘A new Deloitte study suggests Canadians, especially women, will face a potentially explosive increase in mental illness for years after the pandemic is finally over.’ –Globe and Mail.
Deloitte estimates that the post-pandemic level of doctor visits for mental health and addiction issues will be 54-163% higher than it was before 2020 – a range that equals 6-10M Canadians.
The consulting firm says governments should be funding mental-health services, providers should be getting ready for the demand and insurance companies should look at revising coverage options. The study also warns that “a third-order crisis” is simmering.
“This is a human crisis. Our previous research on the impact of natural disasters shows that once the public health and economic crises have subsided, the human crisis endures for months, if not years,” Deloitte says.
Statistics from Fort McMurray suggest that the mental-health impact will linger for years. Visits to mental-health professionals and prescriptions for antidepressants shot up in the months following the May 2016 wildfire “and (still)….there’s no sign of coming back to the pre-disaster normal.”
Particularly “heartbreaking” is the impact on women, he said.
“Women are the epicentre of the human impact of COVID-19,” the study concludes.
