STRESS TAKES ITS TOLL: 25% OF CANADIANS ARE `OVERWHELMED' BY CURRENT WORLD EVENTS

Almost 3 million (13% of adults) say they're having trouble sleeping because of worry

Toronto, ON - The threats of terrorism, the war in Afghanistan, anthrax scares on the hour, and concerns about personal safety are taking a toll on Canadian adults.

According to a new Ipsos-Reid/Globe & Mail/CTV poll released today, twenty-five percent of Canadian adults indicate that world events are stressful and overwhelming almost all of the time (6%) or often (19%). The survey also indicates that four percent of the adult population (920,000) say they have actually visited their doctor or a professional counselor to help them cope with how they feel about the threat of terrorism and the current war to deal with both physical and anxiety symptoms.

Further, over one-third (35%) indicate that they are more anxious and irritable specifically because of the uncertainty caused by the threat of terrorism and the war on terrorism. For one-in-seven (or 13% of the adult population, which equates to 2,990,000) report having trouble sleeping at night because they are worried about this conflict.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Globe and Mail/CTV poll conducted between October 16th and 18th 2001. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data. For the purposes of identifying "adult population" of those 18+, recent statistics indicate that 23 million Canadians are counted within this grouping.

Twenty-five percent of Canadian adults indicate that world events are stressful and overwhelming almost all of the time (6%) or often (19%).

The survey also shows that 4% of the adult population (920,000) indicate they have actually visited their doctor or a professional counselor to help them cope with how they feel about the threat of terrorism and the current war to deal with both physical and anxiety symptoms.

• Those in Quebec (30%) appear to feel the most overwhelmed due to world events, while those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (15%) appear to be the least overwhelmed as a result of world events.
• Quebecers (7%) also are more likely than those in other regions to report that they have visited a doctor or professional counselor to help them cope with the threat of terrorism and the current war.
• Canadians 55 years of age and older (29%) are more likely than those 18-54 (24%) to feel overwhelmed due to world events.
• Women (28%) are more likely than men (22%) to say that they are overwhelmed.
• Canadians in the middle household income (28%) bracket are more likely to feel overwhelmed than individuals in the highest bracket (21%).

Further, over one-third (35%) of Canadians indicate that they are more anxious and irritable specifically because of the uncertainty caused by the threat of terrorism and the war on terrorism.

• Canadians with less than high school education (49%) and younger (43%) Canadians are more likely to say that they are anxious and irritable due to the threat of terrorism.
• Residents of British Columbia (40%), Atlantic Canada (38%) and Ontario (38%) are more likely to be more anxious and irritable, followed by residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (34%), Alberta (32%) and Quebec (28%).
• Women (39% versus 31% of men) are more anxious and irritable due to the threat of terrorism.

For one-in-seven Canadian adults (or 13% of the adult population which equates to 2,990,000), they report having had trouble sleeping at night because they are worried about this conflict.

• Canadians with less than high school education (19%) and women (17% versus 8% of men) are experiencing more trouble sleeping because of worry about the conflict.
• Canadians in households with incomes of less than $30,000 (18%) are more likely than Canadians from households with incomes of more than $60,000 (8%) to be experiencing troubles sleeping due to worry over the conflict.

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  For more information on this news release, please contact:
  John Wright
  Senior Vice- President,
  Public Affairs
  Ipsos-Reid
  (416) 324-2900

  John Wright