The Laurentians are Quebec's most-stressed region

MONTREAL - Forget that bucolic image of cross-country skiers and cozy chalets. The most stressed-out region in Quebec - Canada's most angst-ridden province - is the scenic Laurentians.

The findings for 2010 are from Statistics Canada's annual report on health in 136 regions nationwide, the Canadian Community Health Survey.

"It's paradoxical," said Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies, who crunched statistics from the survey to draw up a portrait of stress levels in Quebec and the rest of Canada.

"The pace of life in a place like the Laurentians, one would think, would be reasonably slower than it is bigger cities," he said.

But work pressures, economic difficulties or other stressors could be contributing to high anxiety levels in the scenic region northwest of Montreal, he said.

Nearly half of people age 35-44 in the Laurentians said most days in their lives are quite a bit or extremely stressful, the survey found.

Overall, 36.6 per cent of Quebecers in that age group reported having stressful lives on most days.

In Canada as a whole, 29.8 per cent of people age 35-44 described most days as stressful. In Montreal, 31.9 per cent in that age group report being quite or very stressed on most days.

Luisa Cameli, executive director of the Emotional Health CBT Clinic, was surprised to hear that people in the Laurentians reported more stress. But the region offers many pleasurable activities that buffer people from stress, she pointed out.

Commuting to jobs in Montreal might be contributing to pressures weighing on some Laurentians residents, pointed out Angelo Soares, a professor of sociology at Université du Québec à Montréal who specializes in stress and other mental disorders.

The Laurentians are one of Quebec's fastest-growing regions, as families move off the island of Montreal to northern suburbs.

Experts say a supportive network of family and friends helps keep stress at bay. Exercise is also a proven mood-booster.

Among those 35-44, 42.8 per cent in Toronto report having stress on most days, while 41.2 per cent in Quebec City and 32.4 per cent in Ottawa did so. In Vancouver, 22.6 per cent experienced daily stress.

The least stressed-out Canadians are in Newfoundland and Labrador (15.3 per cent of people age 35-44) and Prince Edward Island (15.7 per cent).

In all ages 15 and up, 26.7 per cent of Quebecers reported feeling daily stress, compared to 23.5 per cent of all Canadians.

Statistics Canada surveyed 130,000 Canadians in different health regions and an additional 30,000 people in the different provinces.

While Quebecers might have higher stress, the province also has far more therapists per capita than any other province, Cameli said. "Help is available," she said.

mascot@montrealgazette.com