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7 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,M ay 5,2022 w aterloochronicle.ca OUR TIRES GO THE EXTRA MILE. SO DO WE. The Open Country A/T III all-terrain tire delivers gripping off-road traction with responsive and predictable on-road handling. With a strong focus on wet performance, durability and treadwear life, Toyo introduces advances in tread design, construction and all-new tread compounding. It also provides a quiet ride with exceptional stability. The Open Country A/T III is built to get there and get back home, regardless of terrain or weather. Available in LT-Metric, P/Euro-Metric and Flotation sizes ON-/OFF-ROAD ALL-TERRAIN TIRE SEE STORE FOR DETAILS 519.669.3232 371 Arthur St S, ELMIRA www.oktireelmira.com OUR TIRES GO THE EXTRA MILE. SO DO WE. Certified Lyric provider • www.serenityhearing.ca same owner, one name, 7 great locations! open evenings and saturdays by appointment formerly Auburn & Mountain Hearing Centres • 550 Fennell Ave. E. Unit 16 B, Hamilton 289-768-6167 • 723 Rymal Rd.W. Unit 500, Hamilton 289-768-8971 • 570 University Ave. E. Unit 905,Waterloo 888-907-1436 • 350 Conestoga Blvd. Unit B3, Cambridge 888-737-9976 • 168 Barton St. Unit 3, Stoney Creek 289-203-3256 • 1144 Wilson St. W. Unit D203, Ancaster 289-203-3195 • 370 Winston Rd, Grimsby 289-206-5364 Many of us take our ability tocommunicate for granted, butthe ability to speak, hear andbe heard is much more vital toour everyday lives than mostof us realize. For those whohave difficulty communicating,everyday interactions canpose significant challenges. Acommunication disorder mayprevent an individual fromperforming well at work, askingfor help, hearing instructions atschool or even saying 'I love you'. We're "hear" to help! #communicateawareness Connecting People People's fear of contract- ing COVID-19 might be waning, but almost one in four Canadians still reports having high anxiety, ac- cording to a researcher at the University of Waterloo. "My expectation was that we'd see lower levels, because we're trying to go back to normal. Kids are back to school, people are going back to work like they used to before the pan- demic and the concerns with the virus and the dis- ease itself is the lowest it's been," said Gustavo Betini, a PhD student in the school of public health science, who has spent the past year studying the mental health effects of COVID-19 as part of a research internship with Mental Health Re- search Canada (MHRC). Data collected from more than 35,000 surveys since the beginning of the pandemic is intended to in- form policymakers and stakeholders in the mental health field, including Health Canada. Betini said through six waves and a series of lock- downs, overall numbers have remained fairly con- stant since the early stages of COVID-19. The number of Canadians accessing professional mental health care services has doubled, increasing from 11 per cent to 22 per cent, while about one in 10 Canadians feel they should be, but aren't. Health-care workers and young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 have seen the most dramatic de- clines in their mental health compared to before the pandemic, while par- ents of children and mem- bers of the LGBTQ commu- nity have been more sus- ceptible to higher levels of anxiety and depression, Be- tini noted. The Mental Health In- dex for Canada has been about 10 points lower than the pre-2020 benchmark and sat at -10.5 for March 2022. A recent Canadian Men- tal Health Association sur- vey revealed more than half of people polled are still worried the virus will continue to impact our lives and circulate for years. Here 24/7 staff at CMHA Waterloo Welling- ton have recently been re- ceiving an increasing num- ber of calls from people ex- periencing an impact on their mental health be- cause of the conflict in Ukraine. "It's the cumulative im- pact," said chief executive officer Helen Fishburn, who noted that although the Omicron variant is not proving to be as lethal as previous COVID-19 vari- ants, a high rate of trans- mission is still impacting mental health profoundly. "People are still carry- ing the scars and the emo- tional toll of what we've been through the past two years and they are also very fearful about what life looks like in the future," Fishburn said. "As we shift from a pan- demic to an endemic, in the wake of that there is the mental health and addic- tions toll that is left, and people are still carrying, and will take a long time to unpack." This week (May 2 to 8) is Mental Health Week in Canada, and the CMHA is focusing on empathy as this year's theme. Fishburn feels the tim- ing is good because it feels like we need to stop, reflect and have some conversa- tions. A silver lining of the pandemic is that it has opened up opportunity for people to experience anxi- ety and depression, and ac- knowledge it, but Fishburn said it's still vital for people to imagine what life is like for others. "We continue to see a 40 per cent increase in our re- ferrals and our call vol- umes," she said. "In particular, we've seen many more people in crisis than we ever did be- fore the pandemic -- people really reaching high risk and seeing that dark spot because they're not seeing a way out." People can access 24- hour support through Here 24/7 Crisis Support at 1-844- 437-3247. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Mental Health Week is May 2 to 8 and the Chronicle followed up on recent research out of the University of Waterloo that shows overall levels of anxiety remain constant in Canada. NEWS FEAR OF COVID FADING, BUT ANXIETY REMAINING BILL JACKSON bjackson@torstar.ca Gustavo Betini, a PhD student in the school of public health science at the University of Waterloo, is studying the effects of COVID-19 with Mental Health Research Canada. Gus Betini photo