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The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a growing need for mental health support—some of which went unmet. A person has an unmet mental health need if they are experiencing a mental health need but are not accessing care or if the care they are receiving is not addressing their mental health needs.
What we did
We studied survey data commissioned by Mental Health Research Canada and collected in 2021 from 1,195 adults living in the Maritime Provinces. The survey asked about mental health history, health care use, and the impact of COVID-19 on mental health.
What we learned
- One in four reported unmet mental health needs in the Maritimes (25%), split between:
Unsupported (12%) – When people recognized the need for help but didn’t receive it
Unsatisfied (6%) – When people received support but were unsatisfied with it
Unreported (7%) – When people experienced moderate to severe anxiety and/or depression symptoms but didn’t report needing help with their mental health
- Different sociodemographic factors were associated with each type of unmet mental health need. The prevalence of moderate to severe depression symptoms also differed between unmet mental health needs groups.
- There were shifts in unmet mental health needs from before COVID-19. For example, more than half of the Unsupported group did access care prior to COVID-19, more than half of the Unreported group recognized a need for support prior to COVID-19, and nearly half of the Unsatisfied group who accessed care were satisfied prior to COVID-19.
- More people with unmet mental health needs, particularly the Unsatisfied group, experienced negative impacts on their mental health because of the pandemic.
Implications
These findings provide evidence to support a multi-pronged policy approach and may inform targeted interventions to address unmet mental health needs by:
- Helping us understand who is more or less likely to have specific types of unmet mental health needs, and the severity of their mental health symptoms.
- Highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on unmet mental health needs, access to care, and satisfaction with support, which can inform planning for future public health emergencies (e.g. climate-related events, pandemics).
- Providing a starting point for future research including examining reasons for not accessing support.