Is mental health in the Canadian population changing over time?

Abstract

Objective: Mental health in populations may be deteriorating, or it may be improving, but there is little direct evidence to support either possibility. Our objective was to examine secular trends in mental health indicators from national data sources. Methods: We used data (1994-2008) from the National Population Health Survey and from a series of cross-sectional studies (Canadian Community Health Survey) conducted in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007. We calculated population-weighted proportions and also generated sex-specific, age-standardized estimates of major depressive episode prevalence, distress, professionally diagnosed mood disorders, antidepressant use, self-rated perceived mental heal..