Editor: According to the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health, 20 per cent of Canadians experience a mental health or addiction problem.
The pandemic has highlighted how fragile and inadequate our mental health support system is.
People were confined to their homes for weeks at a time and our individual and collective mental health suffered for it. During this time, access to mental health services, including both medical interventions and counselling, grew longer and longer.
We must do better.
If we are truly calling it “health” care, it must focus on the health of the entire body and person. This must include comprehensive mental health supports, including access to therapy and counselling.
Currently, absent private drug coverage, people must rely on community organizations or the goodness of their therapist in order to access therapy. Therapy is not cheap, running more than $100 for most one-hour appointment times.
It is time psychotherapy and mental health counselling services become more accessible by providing coverage through the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).
Next year, Ontarians head to the polls to decide who should govern Ontario.
We would be wise to call on our leaders to do more to support the mental health of all Ontarians. We do not need more patchwork solutions; we need full access to mental counselling for every Ontarian that requires it.
Jason Brown
Chatham
