Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this week is NWT Mental Health Week. The health of the mind, like the health of the body, is taken for granted until something goes wrong. Mr. Speaker, we all have some experience with stress in our lives. There can be enormous pressures to meet the obligations of the workplace and balance work with the demands of family life and other obligations. Fortunately, most of us are able to manage these pressures and maintain a balanced state of mind by making healthy choices about how to deal with life's challenges. Not everyone is so fortunate, Mr. Speaker.
Approximately 20 percent of Canadians will personally experience a serious mental illness during their lifetime. Indirectly, mental illness affects all Canadians through illness in family members, friends and colleagues. Mental illness is brought on by a very complex interplay of genetic, biological, personality and environmental factors. It does not discriminate. Mental illness can affect people of all ages, education, income levels and cultures.
Mr. Speaker, 36 percent of all hospitalizations in the Northwest Territories are for mental health illnesses and they are related to alcohol and drug abuse. This is followed by depression, the second most common reason, that being at 30 percent.
In 2003, five percent of NWT residents age 12 and older reported a major depressive episode. In other words, Mr. Speaker, approximately 1,600 NWT residents over the age of 12 suffered from clinical depression. Statistics indicate that there is no significant difference in the prevalence of depression between communities. However, smaller communities have more limited access to programs and services than does our capital.
Mr. Speaker, Hay River residents, for example, have limited access to prevention and treatment services. The Department of Health and Social Services released the report on NWT integrated service delivery model in 2004. In it, they identified challenges to the current service delivery for mental health and addictions services. To meet these challenges, the department initiated a strategy to roll out 77 new mental health and addictions workers throughout the NWT communities over a three-year period. Mr. Speaker, I hope to see the situation improve as the strategy is implemented.
According to experts on mental illness in Canada, they characterize mental illness as the last taboo. Mr. Speaker, the stigma attached to mental illness presents serious barriers to diagnoses and treatment. I will leave it at that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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