First-ever depression in the workplace study unveiled

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A first ever US-Canada Forum on Mental Health will bring scientists and business executives together from both countries to forge a 'cure and prevention strategy' for major mental illnesses.

The Forum emerged from a special session of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health that took place at the Canadian Embassy by Canadian Ambassador to the United States, Michael Wilson.

The Ambassador commented that this kind of free trade will not be fashioned by government-to-government agreement, but by the actions of leaders in business and science demonstrating that major mental illness is treatable and beatable and a suitable cause of choice for major corporations.

The Ambassador's initiative comes as the findings of the first North American public opinion survey on depression were released today by Ipsos-Reid. The survey found that 80 per cent of respondents - 1,000 Canadians and 1,000 Americans - believe depression is a life-threatening illness. The Ipsos-Reid survey also found that 84 per cent of those polled believe CEOs should make helping employees in the workplace a key human resources priority.

The US-Canada Forum consists of a series of business-scientific conferences starting in Ottawa this fall. The Forum will establish definitive, evidence-based business, economic and scientific goals to support increased investments in mental health over the next 10 years.

Dr. Alan Bernstein, president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in Ottawa, said "this bilateral forum is of significance because of the issue and because it builds on and further extends two decades of collaboration between the Canadian and American scientific communities."

In North America, mental illness is taking a $300 billion toll each year.

In recent years, medical research has made major strides in unlocking the mysteries of the human brain and increasing understanding of the pathways to some forms of mental illness.

Like mental illness itself, talking about a 'cure' is no longer unspoken.

Roundtable co-founder and CEO Bill Wilkerson - who will co-chair the US-Canada Forum - said that "the word cure - often avoided in mental health circles for fear of fanning false hope or shifting resources away from social services, housing and other
forms of support for those with persistent mental illness - can now be discussed openly."