Mental health and loneliness trends reported in Quebec regions

Recent health reports from Quebec highlight significant mental health and social challenges across different demographics. In the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, diagnoses of anxious-depressive disorders among youth aged 1 to 17 have increased by 60% over the last decade, rising from 940 cases in 2014-2015 to over 1,500 today. Data indicates this region has the highest prevalence of such disorders in the province at 7.4%. Young women aged 15-24 are identified as a particularly high-risk group, with hospitalizations for suicide attempts reaching 135 per 100,000 females compared to 32 per 100,000 males in 2024.

In the Montérégie region, public health officials are addressing rising levels of loneliness. More than half of young people aged 15 to 29 and over 40% of seniors aged 75 and older report feeling lonely. A new report, ‘Entre générations: regards et pistes pour mieux vieillir ensemble’, calls for strengthening intergenerational ties to combat social isolation, which health experts note can have physical and mental health impacts comparable to smoking.