Mental Health and MAID: Canadians who struggle to get help more likely to support expanding eligibility

As the debate over expanding eligibility to medical assistance in dying to include individuals whose sole condition is mental illness continues, there is much concern among Canadians over the state of mental health care in the country ahead of this weighty decision.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, in partnership Cardus, finds a vast majority of Canadians concerned with the mental health care resources available in the country (80%) and the state of Canadians’ mental health overall (81%).

This concern is more elevated among those who sought care from the country’s mental health-care system in the past year. Overall, one-in-five (19%) Canadians say they’ve looked for treatment for a mental health issue from a professional in the last 12 months. In that group, two-in-five say they’ve faced barriers to receive the treatment they wanted. These obstacles appear to be more of an issue for women (45% of those who sought treatment say it was difficult to receive) and young Canadian adults aged 18-34 (51%).

With this in the background, the federal government is continuing deliberations on expanding eligibility for MAID to include those whose sole condition is mental illness. Majorities of Canadians support the previous rules governing MAID, first passed in 2016 (64%) and then updated in 2021 (60%), but there is more hesitation when it comes to this next step. Three-in-ten (28%) say they support allowing those whose sole condition is mental illness to seek MAID, while half are opposed (50%).

However, for those who have sought treatment for their mental health and found it difficult to access, there is elevated support. Two-in-five (41%) who have encountered barriers to mental health care believe those whose sole condition is mental illness should be able to receive MAID. Comparatively, 26 per cent of those who have not needed to use the mental health-care system in the past year say the same.

More Key Findings:

• Those who encountered barriers to receive mental health care are more likely to be in lower income households (36%) than those who found their access easy (24%).

• When asked to describe their recent mood, Canadians are most likely to select “fatigued” (47%), “normal” (41%) and “anxious” (38%). One-quarter (27%) say they have been “happy” over the last couple of weeks.

• Majorities of those who faced difficult access to mental health care (60%) and easy access (83%) say the treatment they received helped.