Girls and young women need better access to mental health care, StatsCan report suggests – CBC

Break down barriers for young people looking for mental health help, psychologists say

May 22, 2025

When Emma Bockner was eight, she was prescribed medication for ADHD. Then as a teen, she started abusing drugs and alcohol.

“There were a lot of things that happened in my childhood that left me with feelings of inadequacy,” said Bockner, 26, who lives in Richmond Hill, Ont. She’s survived emotional and sexual abuse, and struggled with an eating disorder.

When Bockner graduated from high school, she saw her friends moving on with fulfilling lives, as she found herself with a part-time job, often sitting in her room alone, drinking and doing drugs.

“It took me about six months to get into treatment, a couple of months to get into a group home,” Bockner recalled.

Waitlists for mental health and substance use services are one of the deterrents for girls and young women in Canada looking for professional help, a new report from Statistics Canada suggests.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/girls-young-women-mental-health-stat-can-1.7540537