![One in five Quebecers suffers from high psychological distress](https://img.passeportsante.net/1000x526/2014-03-24/i46426-un-quebecois-sur-cinq-souffre-de-detresse-psychologique-elevee.jpg)
October 9, 2008 – More than one in five Quebecers – 22.7% – lives in a state of high psychological distress. This is almost twice as much as what is observed in other Canadian provinces.
This is what emerges from an analysis by the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ), carried out using data obtained in 2005 from 26,000 Quebecers aged 15 and over, as part of the Survey on healthy Canadian communities1.
In the other provinces evaluated in the analysis, the percentage of psychological distress is significantly lower than that observed in Quebec: 12.3% in Saskatchewan, 12.4% in Prince Edward Island, 14.5 % in Alberta and 14.9% in British Columbia.
According to the authors, this difference is explained, at least in part, by work. “Quebeckers are, in proportion, the Canadians living the most a state of daily stress and high work stress”, they write, without specifying the figures.
At the regional level, the proportions are more or less the same, with the exception of Montreal, where 27% of the population lives in a state of high psychological distress, compared to 22% for Quebec without the Metropolis.
Women and young people most affected
Moreover, the Quebecers most affected by a state of high psychological distress are women, young people aged 15 to 24, as well as those with low income.
Thus, women (26%) are more likely than men (19.5%) to suffer from high psychological distress, regardless of their age group.
But the gender gap is more marked among 15 to 24 year olds, among whom psychological distress affects 26.5% of men and 40.4% of women.
Proportion of Quebecers living in a state of high psychological distress, by age and sex (2005)1
When household income is taken into account, 30.5% of those living with low income experience high degree psychological distress, compared to 17.5% of those with higher income.
Marital status is also a risk factor, according to the ISQ analysis. Psychological distress affects 17.6% of married people and 22.4% of those living in a common-law relationship. This proportion is 26.6% among divorced people and 31% among single people who have never been married.
Finally, Quebecers in a state of psychological distress are more numerous among those who consider themselves in poor health (43%), compared to those who have good (26%), very good (20%) or excellent (14%). perception of their health.
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. Camirand H, Nanhou V. Psychological distress among Quebecers in 2005, Institut de la statistique du Québec, Zoom Health, September 2008, 1-4.