Good afternoon.
Thank you for inviting us to appear.
I'm going to bring you to the field of mental health promotion and prevention.
We are a group of community organizations dedicated to promotion and prevention. We have member groups across Quebec and have been around since 1955.
Our mandate is to create, develop and strengthen mental health, that is, to take action to try to maintain a mentally healthy population at all times, whether in the population as a whole, in the workplace or elsewhere.
I didn't hear the witnesses speak earlier, but there's one thing I'd like you to keep in mind as you leave this meeting. Mental health is a good, positive thing; it's not mental illness. When we talk about mental health, we're talking about an individual and collective wealth. The World Health Organization tells us that without mental health, there is no health. It's important to remember this.
Mental health is a dynamic balance between the different areas of our lives. Clearly, these days, it isn't an easy balance to maintain. However, promoting mental health is really working to increase the collective well-being, on a daily basis, and to help the population develop its mental health robustness factors. It is happening all the time, everywhere, throughout the life course, from childhood to old age.
The pandemic has shown us that there are already many people who aren't doing well. There were many young people going to school with distress and intense anxiety, many teachers who lacked resources, and many people in the health care system who were out of breath. The pandemic allowed us—perhaps this will prove to be positive—to look at the situation through a magnifying glass and discover that many things weren't going well in our society. There are people who are bouncing back very well in this situation, but there are others for whom it is much more difficult.
Many people say we're in the same boat, but we are not. We're all on the same ocean, but there are people who have tiny little cardboard boats, and there are people who are on ocean liners. Even in the pandemic, we aren't all equal, in the same situation. It's important to remember that.
I hope lessons will be learned from this pandemic. In the area of promotion, there are two areas where it is important to act. First, there's action on the social determinants of health. Currently, we know that the poorest and most vulnerable people have more mental health problems. The fight against poverty and access to education must be tackled. It is also necessary to pay attention to political interventions so that they are always universal and to design public policies that integrate mental health. As I said at the beginning, without mental health, there is no health at all.
At Mouvement Santé mentale Québec, we've developed seven tips. We have described, in simple words, what we call the robustness factors in mental health. You'll find them on our website, in French and English. An American researcher did research with American soldiers who had been in prison for eight years and who came out of prison without post-traumatic shock. He wanted to find out what helped them, after suffering and being imprisoned, to avoid post-traumatic shock. What comes out of this is these protective factors, which involve taking action and creating important bonds, which are fundamental, as Dr. Poon mentioned earlier, to recharge, to discover, and so on. I invite you to visit our site to learn about all these protective factors that need to be integrated into our lives, in our policies, in our schools, with seniors, at all times.
I have read several pieces of research on mental health promotion in the context of the pandemic. One of the things that I've found, which I'm sure you've heard of, that stands out and is very protective of mental health is having confidence in our authorities.
During the first wave, there was less distress in Canada and Quebec than in the United States or other countries because people trusted the authorities. It is important to maintain this trust.
We must always have access to accurate information. According to research, having a strong sense of coherence protects our mental health. A strong sense of coherence is when we are able to understand what is happening to us, to have the information to deal with and make sense of it, and to decide what measures to take.
It's important to remember that we can all foster a sense of coherence in people by providing them with accurate information and examples of what makes sense, and by helping them find solutions when they cannot do so on their own.
Emotions have often been talked about. Recently, I heard a researcher talk about the importance of welcoming our emotions, whatever they may be, before they blow up in our faces. This is a protective factor in mental health. You also have to listen to other people's emotions, because they are like a barometer. Emotions reflect a need, and we have to respond to them. Sometimes there is social anger and we intervene. This has a positive effect on the public's mental health. There are many other emotions.
During the pandemic, it is important to nurture positive emotions and talk about people who are doing well. Some companies stand out and are finding innovative and extraordinary solutions. They are putting in place really interesting policies and it is important to name them, to ask—