Mental health snapshot of the Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force in 2019: Results from the Canadian Armed Forces Health Survey

Introduction: The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) regularly assesses members’ health to identify service needs, recognize care-seeking barriers, and assist in evaluating services. The purpose of this report is to provide an updated summary of mental health indicators obtained from the 2019 CAF Health Survey (CAFHS). Methods: The 2019 CAFHS was a population-based health survey of approximately 13,000 active service Regular Force personnel. Descriptive statistics were generated using Statistics Canada’s Real Time Remote Access platform. Results: This report found that 77.3% of Regular Force members perceived their mental health as good-to-excellent, which corresponds with 21.4% self-reporting posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mood disorder, or an anxiety disorder diagnosed by a health professional. Standardized instruments indicated that 16.1% had a probable major depressive disorder and that 3.9% had a past-year alcohol use disorder. Past-year suicidal thoughts were reported by 4.0% and past-year attempts by 0.5%. Past-year mental health services use was reported by 27.3% (24.3% through CAF services). Additionally, a past-year unmet need for mental health services was reported by 14.0%. A preference to self-manage and career concerns were the most indicated unmet need reasons: 30.9% associated a negative career impact with accessing mental health services through the CAF. Among the 24.3% with a past-year CAF mental health service use, 61.5% rated the quality as excellent or very good. Discussion: Some measures of mental health burden among Regular Force members in 2019 were a little higher relative to those reported in the 2013-2014 survey. Although mental health services use increased in 2019, barriers to care — reflected in both the reported level and reasons for unmet mental health services need — remained similar to those observed in the 2013-2014 survey.