Mental health in Canada has become a more significant issue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada is fortunate to have the assistance of organizations and companies that are offering services to bring forth solutions that will alleviate the stresses of the pandemic and address ways to cope with mental health in Canada positively. One of Canada’s own pharmaceutical companies, EmpowerPharm Inc., is creating a unique CBD (Cannabidiol) tablet to ease anxiety.

EmpowerPharm Inc. and Empower CBD

EmpowerPharm Inc.’s tablet Empower CBD is different from typical anxiety medications because it will not cause habit-forming behaviors or disability. Empower CBD will go through intensive clinical studies with departments like Health Canada. The tablet comprises synthetic CBD and will not contain any THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). CBD is a better option because it gives medicinal effects without the high that usually exists in the THC strain.

Espri by TELUS Health

Canadian essential workers have access to a mental health mobile app called Espri by TELUS Health. The mobile app offers resources in mental health and wellness to various frontline workers. Physicians and nurses are just two occupations that the app specifically mentions among others that offer tools that center on the particular stressors that occur in their day-to-day work shifts.

Trained clinicians who understand the needs of essential workers who need support in times of crisis created the Espri by TELUS Health app. The app features informative content, a section to build goals to foster positive growth and virtual sessions to connect in a safe and confidential space that offers therapy and educational support.

CMHA BounceBack Program

The Canadian Mental Health Association supports mental health in Canada through the BounceBack program. The program is possible due to a $1 million donation that has allowed BounceBack into Alberta, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba along with other parts of Canada. The program can be tailor-made to suit an individual’s needs, helping youth and adults learn how to cope with mood symptoms, mental illness and unpleasant mental and emotional states.

BounceBack works on a national level in Canada and has helped “reduce depressive and anxiety symptoms by 50%” through cognitive behavioral therapy. The program is available to English and French-speaking participants as long as a primary care provider becomes involved.

Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)

Many know the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) as one of the best mental health organizations; it has made its resources readily available in all 10 provinces and one territory and serves more than 1.3 million Canadians. CMHA believes in full recovery among all individuals of all ages suffering from mental health issues. About “[one] in [five] people in Canada will personally experience a mental health problem or illness.” Meanwhile, before the age of 50, about half of the Canadian population will experience a mental illness, showing the importance of treating mental health in Canada.

The solutions to overcoming mental health in Canada are creative in all their forms through means of medicine, technology and health programs that all have one common goal to improve the well-being of at-risk individuals.

– Amanda Ortiz
Photo: Flickr