Map of Simcoe Muskoka

Mental Health

Life Stress

Key Messages
Overall
By Age
By Sex
By Income

Key Messages

  • Approximately one quarter of Simcoe Muskoka residents (12 years or older) perceive their lives as quite a bit or extremely stressful.
  • This is similar to the provincial rate.
  • Older adults, males, and people living in the middle income quintile were less likely to report their lives as stressful.

Overall

  • According to the 2019/2020 cycle of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) conducted by Statistics Canada, approximately one quarter or 24% (21.0%, 27.5%)) of Simcoe Muskoka residents aged 12 years or older reported their life as quite a bit or extremely stressful.
  • This was similar to the provincial average during the same survey period at 21% (20.2%, 21.8%) of Ontario residents reporting their lives as quite a bit or extremely stressful.
  • Perceived life stress is Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario has not significantly changed between the 2015/2016 and 2019/2020 CCHS survey cycles.

LifeStress

By Age

  • Perceived life stress is highest in Simcoe Muskoka residents aged 20 to 44 years and lowest among seniors (65+). In Simcoe Muskoka 29% (25.1%, 33.6%) of adults (20 to 44 years) rate their life as quite a bit or extremely stressful, which was significantly higher than for seniors (65+) with 14% (11.2%, 17.1%) based on combined data from the 2015 to 2020 survey years.
  • Simcoe Muksoka residents aged 20 to 44 years were significantly more likely to report their life as quite a bit or extremely stressful compared to Ontarians in the same age group where 23.8% (23.0%, 24.6%) reported their life as quite a bit of extremely stressful.

LifeStressbyAge

By Sex

  • Using combined data from the 2015 to 2020 survey years, there was no significant different between Simcoe Muskoka males and females in their self-perceived life stress.
  • However, for Ontario overall, a higher percent of females reported their lives were quite a bit or extremely stressful, with 23% (22.6%, 23.9%) compared to males at 20% (19.0%, 20.3%).

LifeStressbySex

By Income

  • Provincially, perceived life stress is higher for those at both the bottom and top income quintiles when compared to the middle income quintiles, but this is not significant for Simcoe Muskoka.
  • In Ontario, 24% (22.8%, 25.2%) of those in the lowest income quintile and 22% (21.5%, 23.5%) of those in the highest income quintile rate their life as quite a bit or extremely stressful, based on survey data from the 2015 to 2020 cycles combined. This is higher than the 20% (19.0%, 21.1%) of people in the middle income quintile.

LifeStressbyInc

Further Reading

For more information on mental health and wellness, see:

Page Last Modified: July 26, 2023