Thursday, February 15, 2007
CBC News
About four out of five employees diagnosed with depression in Canada and the United States said they believe their careers would be hurt if their employers knew, a new poll suggests.
The stigma leads employees to keep the diagnosis a secret, according to the survey by Ipsos Reid released on Thursday at an international seminar on mental health organized by the Canadian embassy in Washington.
In Canada, 11 per cent of respondents said they have been diagnosed by a physician as depressed, compared with 15 per cent of workers in the U.S.
About 22 per cent in Canada and 21 per cent in the U.S. said they think they have depression that has not been properly diagnosed.
The poll also suggested that Americans are more supportive than Canadians of those suffering from depression, and that people in the U.S. have a better understanding of the condition.
About 90 per cent said they believe depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.
Depression is more common among women (18 per cent) than men (11 per cent), and it also more prevalent among those with lower income and less education.
Companies should make helping employees with depression a priority, 84 per cent of those polled said.
It is estimated that mental illness costs Canadian and U.S. business more than $300 billion a year in disability and lost productivity.
Ipsos-Reid polled a random sample of 1,000 adult Canadians and 1,000 adult Americans on Jan 31 and Feb. 1 for the survey. The results are considered to be accurate within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
CBC News
About four out of five employees diagnosed with depression in Canada and the United States said they believe their careers would be hurt if their employers knew, a new poll suggests.
The stigma leads employees to keep the diagnosis a secret, according to the survey by Ipsos Reid released on Thursday at an international seminar on mental health organized by the Canadian embassy in Washington.
In Canada, 11 per cent of respondents said they have been diagnosed by a physician as depressed, compared with 15 per cent of workers in the U.S.
About 22 per cent in Canada and 21 per cent in the U.S. said they think they have depression that has not been properly diagnosed.
The poll also suggested that Americans are more supportive than Canadians of those suffering from depression, and that people in the U.S. have a better understanding of the condition.
About 90 per cent said they believe depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.
Depression is more common among women (18 per cent) than men (11 per cent), and it also more prevalent among those with lower income and less education.
Companies should make helping employees with depression a priority, 84 per cent of those polled said.
It is estimated that mental illness costs Canadian and U.S. business more than $300 billion a year in disability and lost productivity.
Ipsos-Reid polled a random sample of 1,000 adult Canadians and 1,000 adult Americans on Jan 31 and Feb. 1 for the survey. The results are considered to be accurate within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
