Gen Z prioritizing mental-health care more than other generations, despite the high price tag | Canada Voices

For Maury Hansen, 27, mental-health care and medication are not optional. Mx. Hansen, a hospitality worker in Fredericton, has diagnoses of bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and spends about $500 a month on drugs and therapy.

“Without medication, I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t work,” says Mx. Hansen, noting many people in her social circle access therapy, mental-health drugs, or both. “Some people are in the position where they have to choose food or medication, and if that was me, I would choose medication.”

Mx. Hansen makes just under $50,000 a year – a salary that she says is good for where she lives. But without benefits, a lot of that money goes toward maintaining her mental equilibrium. In addition to medication and therapy, she says healthy eating and pet ownership contribute to her well-being, neither of which are cheap.

Mx. Hansen is at the older end of Generation Z, a cohort more comfortable discussing and seeking mental-health care than those before them.

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A recent report from insurance company Sun Life found Gen Z’s use of antidepressants is growing at double the rate of the population overall, and that for Gen Z women, mental-health disorders make up more than 60 per cent of long-term disability claims.

The report, which used data from health benefits claims of more than 20,000 Canadian employers and three million plan members, also found more Gen Z men are seeing therapists, with visits to psychologists growing at a rate faster than for women, and at twice the rate of the broader plan member population.

“Gen Z has been raised with a greater openness about mental health challenges than other generations,” the report states. “While some stigma remains, Gen Z is the most open about discussing and seeking help for mental health issues that arise.”

That assessment rings true for Mx. Hansen, who doesn’t believe her generation is more mentally unwell than those before it. She says many people she knows have similar mental-health conditions as one of their parents, but the parents lack diagnoses and aren’t seeking care or medication.

“A lot of older generations have the pull-yourself-by-your-bootstraps mentality, but medication and therapy, for this generation, are our bootstraps,” she said.

The Sun Life report also links this cohort’s mental-health issues to the world they have grown up in.

“Gen Zs have faced record high rents and a rising cost of living at the start of their careers,” it says. “They also carry higher levels of student debt and are more likely to experience precarious employment. Over half report experiencing anxiety, depression, and mental health challenges due to financial stress.”

That commitment to mental health comes at a cost for people still working to establish themselves. While most provincial health insurance plans cover psychiatry, they usually don’t cover psychotherapists, psychologists and several other talk therapy practitioners.

Even for Canadians with employer-provided supplementary health benefits, coverage is often only enough for a couple of therapy sessions a year, says Chris Gory, founder of Orchard Benefits, which supplies benefit packages to more than 100 Canadian companies.

He says the majority of plans have a yearly cap of $500 per practitioner, and many cover 80 per cent of visit costs. With hourly rates for psychologists, the most commonly covered type of practitioner, typically above $200, such benefits would cover about three visits, with patients roughly paying $40 each time.

Mr. Gory said most people who use their mental-health benefits tend to max them out. Meanwhile, most plans have unlimited coverage for drugs.

“They can go on whatever drug they need, but because they have a cap on practitioners, they’re not spending the money on that,” he said, citing research from Manulife showing only 10 per cent of their plan members on mental-health medication also see a mental-health practitioner. “That number really surprised me when I saw it.”

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The Manulife research was shared in a presentation to benefits advisers that the company held in November, 2022. It also reported a 76.6-per-cent increase over four years in the number of members on long-term disability between the ages of 18 and 24.

Strong mental-health benefits are a selling point for younger workers and a boon for companies looking to differentiate themselves, says Joey Walters, vice-president of human resources at Schneider Electric Canada. His company’s benefits offer $2,000 in mental-health practitioner coverage, along with access to an online therapy portal, an employee assistance program and seminars on mental and financial health.

The company also allows employees to pay into a “recharge break” program, where their contributions are matched, and they can take a paid six- to eight-week break every three to four years. Mr. Walters says providing various pathways to mental health and self-care accommodates the needs of a wider range of workers.

“Employees now are struggling,” he said. “They need support they can understand and make sure they don’t feel judged.

“It’s not seen as, ‘This is a nice perk.’ It has to be a core part of the business,” he said.

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