What Path are you on in your Mental Health Journey?

Navigating Stigma and Mental Health

People continue to put off accessing mental health resources when they may benefit from them, and perceived stigma continues to contribute to this. According to Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), while 76% of adults say they would support a colleague who was struggling with their mental wellness, 75% still say they would be reluctant, or even refuse, to disclose a mental illness to an employer or coworker, for fear of how this could affect how they are treated, or whether they can keep their job. And yet, despite people confirming that they would be hesitant to admit they themselves are struggling with their mental health, the CMHA estimates that as many as 1 in 5 Canadians do struggle with their mental health, and up to 50% will have experienced mental illness by the time they reach 40.

Pair this with elevated rates of mental illness in children and youth, high comorbidities with substance use and addiction, and the ongoing concerns around how untreated mental illness can escalate to suicide and self-harm, people are understandably worried about mental health as a whole. But they may be reluctant to admit they are experiencing difficulties, and may also be reluctant to access services that may well give them some relief.

It is further estimated that people may be 3 times more likely to admit to their colleagues that they have cancer, than that they are experiencing mental illness– which is pretty telling when we consider how isolating the symptoms can make us feel, and how much they can negatively impact our ability to function and enjoy our quality of life. Even in this age of information, it can feel like there are also a lot of unknowns, with some people also expressing concerns that if they have a mental illness diagnosis, that this means they will be unwell the rest of their lives; or that they do not know if therapy or medication can even help.

Experiences that cause a shift in our mental wellness are far more common than many of us are aware. As noted by the CMHA's statistics, while it can feel incredibly isolating, there is a very good chance that there are people in our lives we know who are also familiar with how difficult mental illness can be– perhaps as familiar as they would be with many experiences of physical illness. After all, mental wellness is intimately tied with physical wellness, because our neurobiology still reacts to our physical and social environment, no different than our bodies would react to an injury or a traditionally 'physical' ailment like heart disease. And, like many conditions that are based in the body, many mental concerns can be treated in such a way that we can manage symptoms for chronic concerns for recovery, or even reduce the frequency and intensity of symptoms so much that they no longer meet the clinical criteria for diagnosis, effectively reaching remission.

Studies focused on the efficacy of evidence-based treatments consistently demonstrate that treating disorders such as major depressive disorder with psychotherapies can result in clinically significant reductions in distress, and even remission. In Velten et. al's 2025 study, they were able to demonstrate amongst their sample population, about 55% of patients with depression showed signs of recovery, and by the conclusion of the study, 47.2% of participants rated their symptoms as "much improved" and 30% as "very much improved". Another study found that for individuals with treatment resistant depression, the inclusion of an evidence based treatment such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy after patients had discontinued use of their antidepressants, resulted in only 75% of patients reporting no relapse of symptoms at a 2 year follow-up, compared to 20% who had not received CBT, and who had reported relapse (Madhukar H. & Ella J., 2008).

As standalone treatments, both medication and therapy can have impactful results on a person's mental health and in reducing psychological distress. The overall impact of combined treatment of both medications and therapy however, continue to illustrate the relationship between the physical body and our mental health, and the benefits of taking care of both when the alternative is not doing anything different at all (Leichsenring et al., 2022).

So if we are considering the ongoing stigma associated with mental health, and the reluctance to seek out help because we worry about how others might perceive us, it is perhaps worth reframing this dilemma from the lens of a physical illness. In the same way that we can see improvements to our health if we are diagnosed with heart disease by our doctor, by making lifestyle changes and if need be, taking medications-- why wouldn't we do the same for our brains and nervous systems as it relates to our mental health? The evidence seems to support the idea that people are far more accepting of supporting others with mental health than we perhaps give them credit for, and that suffering in silence isn't something that we have to endure. Especially when there are a variety of options that can offer long-term relief put together on a spectrum of options that include therapy alone, medication alone, or combining both in an approach that aligns with our needs and preferences.

References:

Leichsenring, F., Steinert, C., Rabung, S., & Ioannidis, J. P. A. (2022). The efficacy of psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies for mental disorders in adults: An umbrella review and meta‐analytic evaluation of recent meta‐analyses. World Psychiatry, 21(1), 133–145. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20941

Madhukar H., T., & Ella J., D. (2008). Treatment strategies to improve and sustain remission in major depressive disorder. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 10(4), 377–384. https://doi.org/10.31887/dcns.2008.10.4/mhtrivedi

Mental illness and addiction: Facts and statistics. CAMH. (n.d.). https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics

Speaking of Psychology: Treatment and recovery from serious mental illness, with Kim Mueser, PhD. (n.d.). Speaking of Psychology. episode. Retrieved August 25, 2026, from https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/serious-mental-illness.

Velten, J., Christiansen, H., Hoyer, J., In-Albon, T., Lincoln, T., Lutz, W., Margraf, J., Schöttke, H., Stark, R., Werheid, K., Willutzki, U., Alpers, G. W., Bartholdy, S., Berger, E.-M., Brakemeier, E.-L., Bräscher, A.-K., Brockmeyer, T., Dziobek, I., Fehm, L., … Rubel, J. A. (2025). Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for adult mental disorders: A large-scale naturalistic study across 29 university outpatient clinics. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 186, 104691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2025.104691

Webmaster, C. (2024, November 27). “Psychology Works” Fact sheet: Depression - Canadian Psychological Association. Canadian Psychological Association - The national voice for psychology in Canada. https://cpa.ca/psychology-works-fact-sheet-depression/