A new Canadian Mental Health Association report on the state of mental health in the country shows that Newfoundland and Labrador struggles to retain its mental health workforce.
Despite that, indicators perform better overall than the Canadian average. The province reports the lowest rates of mood, anxiety and substance use disorders, and the lowest rate of unmet need for service.
As mental health minister John Abbott explains, NL is also improving on its spending on mental health.
He says there was a Towards Recovery recommendation that government increase its spending on mental health and addictions to nine per cent of its health care budget. Abbott says they have exceeded that, now sitting at 9.4 per cent.
However, NL has the highest self-reported rate of poor mental health in Canada, as well as the highest rate of hospitalizations for self-harm.
Access to psychiatrists is a challenge and wait times for services are long, but a new single-session rapid-access service may help to address wait times.
The CMHA says Newfoundland and Labrador needs a new mental health strategy, including a harm reduction strategy in light of the rising number of drug-related deaths.
