Lesson Two - How Mental Health Stretches Beyond the Individual
| Site: | MoodleHUB.ca 🍁 |
| Course: | Mental Health & Wellness [1 cr] - AB Ed copy 1 |
| Book: | Lesson Two - How Mental Health Stretches Beyond the Individual |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Sunday, 7 September 2025, 6:45 PM |
Information
- This lesson is designed to take approximately 2 hours.
- You have the following tasks and assignments to complete in this lesson:
- Read all Lesson 2 content, including videos, supplementary links, etc.
- Lesson 2 Journal
Lesson Outcomes
- Explain the social, emotional, and economic impacts of a mental health condition on the individual, family, peers, and the community
Impacts on Mental Health
Mental health can affect many different aspects of life. The economic impacts of mental health extend well beyond the person who is in need of help and can actually place a strain on the person, their family, the surrounding community, and society as
a whole.
It is estimated that mental illness in Canada costs approximately $51 billion per year, including health care costs and lost or lowered productivity at work. Mental illnesses, specifically quite severe cases, are also taxing on unemployment
benefits. Canadian statistics estimate that 70–90% of people diagnosed with severe mental illnesses* are unemployed. There are also approximately 500,000 people across Canada in any given week that are not working due to mental illness;
this includes 355,000 disability cases for mental and/or behavioural disorders and 175,000 full-time employees that have taken time off of work because of mental health issues. Finally, the cost of a disability leave due to mental illness
is roughly double that of a leave for a physical injury. The continued cost of therapy, becoming diagnosed (if paying an outside party), and the uncertain amount of time an individual requires off of work can all become a financial burden.
*According to the National Institute of Mental Health, severe mental illness can be defined as a mental, behavioural, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or
more major life activities.
Pexels
It has long been established that having a social support network improves mental health. Social isolation, or those without a social support network, are the worst off psychologically, and it has been shown that everyone needs this support network regardless
of age, education, employment, or marital status.
Interestingly though, research has found a difference between males and females in terms of specific needs for support. Keep in mind that these are general facts and everyone is unique. It was found that females prefer their support network
to be composed of friends more than family because of less familial obligations and more feelings of overall support. In contrast, males did not seem to have a preference between friends or family for their support network.
Pixabay
There are some benefits and disadvantages to social media. Mental health depends on how much time a person spends on social media, as well as how many social media platforms are utilized.
- Can help to improve communication skills with friends
- Allows people to make new friends, share ideas, develop new interests, and exchange pictures and videos
- Encourages the development of basic social and technical skills
- Enriches current offline friendships
Social media can also have disadvantages, especially if someone already has a diagnosed mental illness. It is estimated that 10–20% of Canadian youth have a mental illness of some sort and 3.2 million 12–19 year olds are at risk of developing depression. Keep these statistics in mind while reading the rest of the information on this page.
Disadvantages include:
There is also a distinction between youth who are well-adjusted and those who are at-risk. Youth that are well-adjusted may post, and view, only positive information on social media. These youth are able to process this information and tell themselves that their online friends do not always have the positive life that is presented and take the positive comments on their own posts as a boost to their own sense of self.
At-risk youth, on the other hand, have difficulty with the constant positive showing of their friends' lives and have a disconnect between seeing the positivity and knowing that their online friends do not always have the positive life that is shown on social media. This disconnect leads the youth being more at risk of developing a mental illness such as depression.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has coined the term “Facebook depression” to describe a “depression that develops when teens and preteens spend time on social media sites and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression due
to the intensity of the online world.” This is not a recognized psychological diagnosis by the American Psychological Association.
Even though it is called Facebook depression, the definition clearly states that all social media platforms are included. Youth who already have a mental illness diagnosis, or who may be at risk to develop one, need to be aware of the disadvantages of social media.
Even though it is called Facebook depression, the definition clearly states that all social media platforms are included. Youth who already have a mental illness diagnosis, or who may be at risk to develop one, need to be aware of the disadvantages of social media.
Pixabay
Disadvantages include:
- Social media platforms can make youth feel inadequate because of friend tallies, status updates, and friends posting continuous positive events in their life.
- Youth that visit any social media platform more than 58 times per week are three times more likely to feel more socially isolated* than those who only use social media less than 9 times per week.
- Greater use of social media platforms, particularly Instagram, is associated with body image concerns and self-objectification.
- Increased use of social media platforms is associated with feelings of depression and self-isolation.
*Feelings of being socially isolated are perceptions of the individual youth and are not always the truth. However, perception is extremely powerful in relation to mindset and mental illness.
There is also a distinction between youth who are well-adjusted and those who are at-risk. Youth that are well-adjusted may post, and view, only positive information on social media. These youth are able to process this information and tell themselves that their online friends do not always have the positive life that is presented and take the positive comments on their own posts as a boost to their own sense of self.
At-risk youth, on the other hand, have difficulty with the constant positive showing of their friends' lives and have a disconnect between seeing the positivity and knowing that their online friends do not always have the positive life that is shown on social media. This disconnect leads the youth being more at risk of developing a mental illness such as depression.