Why proactive care is the key to better mental health this year

January 16, 2026 | 3 min read

Hannah,* a 53-year-old elementary school teacher in London, Ont., found herself at a breaking point midway through last year: overwhelmed, exhausted and unable to function. She was struggling with a stressful time at work, navigating her parents’ messy divorce and dealing with the disruption of urgent home repairs.

“Everything was falling apart around me,” Hannah says. For nearly six months, her symptoms compounded. Normally a very social person, Hannah found herself feeling more withdrawn and irritable, with increasing insomnia. “I was snippy with my own kids and short with my students, which is not like me.”

In June, she reached out to her family doctor to ask about mental-health resources. She began phone counselling with a therapist twice a week using her workplace benefits.

“It helped to talk to someone who wasn’t in the mix,” she says. “It was cathartic just spitting it all out.” 

Her experience of feeling at the brink of a mental-health crisis is far from unique.

According to a 2024 report¹ by the Canadian Mental Health Association, the mental health of Canadians is three times worse than before the pandemic, and half of Canadians say their stress has increased over the past year.

Many people, like Hannah, wait until their problems compound and become too big to ignore, rather than seeking help earlier. Dr. Georgia Pomaki, director of mental-health best practices for Canadian Disability & Group Life at Manulife Canada, is a strong advocate for early intervention.

“Preventive mental-health care helps us maintain hope – one of the first things we lose when we’re struggling,” Dr. Pomaki says. “By taking early action, you’re not just treating symptoms but setting yourself up for better health in the future.”

Seeking out care early can have a significant impact at home, and at work. Dr. Pomaki points to 2023 research² conducted by the Institute for Applied Health Research Berlin. It shows that people who access counselling and treatment early typically experience shorter medical leaves and better long-term outcomes, and reductions of approximately 14 sick-leave days.

One of the first steps is understanding what kind of support to look for, and how it might be used preventively.

“Family physicians can help people understand their problems better, and the path forward. They can help determine if there’s a role for therapy, could medications be helpful, and what community resources are available and relevant.”

Workplace supports, like Employee and Family Assistance Programs (EFAPs) can also be helpful in providing short-term counselling, along with online self-help modules and resources for other factors that contribute to mental health, such as career coaching, nutritional counselling, financial and legal guidance and even support for smoking cessation.

For people with the means or access to mental-health and counselling services through benefits plans, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be used for all different types of issues. “CBT focuses on how our thinking can influence our behaviour and mood,” says Dr. Gratzer. “It can be helpful even when you think there’s nothing wrong with you.”

Dr. Gratzer especially recommends it for early or milder symptoms of depression to prevent those symptoms from escalating, and for mood and anxiety disorders.

The whole family may benefit from early interventions. He encourages people to think about times that might be stressful, like before holidays or large gatherings, as opportunities to get ahead of issues before they snowball. 

“Family counselling or therapy might be useful, especially when there are larger dynamics at play,” says Dr. Gratzer.

For couples, counselling can be about more than deciding to stay in or leave a relationship, Dr. Gratzer says. “It can also be about being able to communicate better within the relationship on an ongoing basis – something that’s particularly important when children are involved.”

Knowing where to find trusted information about coping techniques is also key. CAMH’s website has resources on a wide variety of topics, including box-breathing³ and relaxation exercises,⁴ which Dr. Gratzer says can be helpful to work through milder cases of anxiety. Other online resources offered by Manulife, TELUS Health⁵ and more can also be helpful.

If you are ever in greater need, having support systems in place, and resources at your fingertips can make a big difference.

There’s no getting around the fact that mental-health services like therapy are expensive, but many companies provide coverage to help offset the cost. Manulife Canada aggregate group benefits claims data shows that in 2024, 27 per cent of people who made mental-health claims utilized therapy, while 62 per cent made claims for medication and 11 per cent used their benefits for both. Any amount of coverage can be helpful for preventive therapy, especially when utilized early, emphasizes Dr. Pomaki.

 Beyond financial constraints, Dr. Gratzer notes that long wait lists, personal hesitation and deep-rooted societal stigma often prevent people from seeking help.

Mental-health issues are “the result of complex interactions of environmental and genetic factors, just like physical illnesses. Seeking help early normalizes mental-health care and helps individuals understand that mental-health challenges are not a sign of weakness,” he says.

Even when someone is ready to look for support, finding the right therapist can be challenging. But being proactive can pay off here as well, since you may have more space to consider your options and choose the treatment that works best for you in the long run.

“Early therapy provides tools and techniques to manage stress, anxiety and emotional challenges before they become overwhelming, allowing people to maintain better performance at work and in their personal life,” says Dr. Gratzer. “Patients often say they wished they had reached out for help sooner.”

Hannah, for her part, supplemented her phone counselling sessions with online self-guided modules that offered targeted and flexible support. She took the summer off to focus on recovery, and was able to return to her job a short time later.

She wishes she knew then what she knows now: “Notice the little signs and do something before you reach burnout. You can’t keep going once it interferes with your daily life.”

*Editor’s Note: Hannah’s name has been changed to protect her privacy

This story was originally published in The Globe and Mail on January 15, 2026.

The information in this article is not to be relied on for medical advice for specific situations. Individual circumstances may vary. Always speak to a medical professional for medical advice.

CAMH
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is the largest mental health hospital in Canada, and a world leader in mental health and addiction research. One of the biggest issues in our health care system is the perception that mental health isn’t as important as physical health, even though 1 in 5 Canadians experience a mental illness in any given year. Mental Health is Health is a new campaign rallying Canadians in support of giving mental illness the same priority as any other illness. To learn more about the campaign visit camh.ca/mentalhealthishealth