Nearly 2.8 million Canadians reported symptoms consistent with mental or substance abuse disorders last year, says the newly released 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey.

The report, released Wednesday, found Canadians were more likely to suffer from substance abuse at some point during their lives than a mood disorder. Nearly six million people suffer from alcohol abuse or dependency, compared to 3.5 million who met the criteria for a mood disorder like depression or bipolar disorder.

The survey found individuals were most likely to meet criteria for abuse of or dependency on alcohol (18 per cent), followed by cannabis (6.8 per cent) and other drugs (four per cent). Unfortunately, the same report found the needs of some Canadians were not met last year.

A Statistics Canada report based on the Canadian Community Health Survey found roughly 20 per cent of Canadians reported having a mental health care need last year, but only two-thirds said their needs were filled. In total, more than 1.6 people Canadians said they had unmet or partially-met mental health care needs.

The 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey sampled 25,113 Canadians aged 15 and older, and asked respondents across the country about various forms of help for problems with emotions, mental health or the use of alcohol or drugs.

Although the most commonly reported need was for counselling services, 10 per cent reported needing medication and seven per cent said they required more information.

The results did not highlight the number of Canadians who suffer from various forms of mental illness -- only the percentage of the population who believed they required assistance addressing their perceived mental health care needs.

The most common barriers to receiving mental health care reported in the survey were: personal circumstances, features of the health care system and a preference to manage one’s own mental health care needs.

The survey also found individuals with higher levels of distress and chronic physical conditions were more likely to report a desire for mental health care services. This need persisted even when factors like sex, age, education and household income were taken into consideration. This group was also more likely to report having unmet needs.

Individuals with a diagnosed mental health disorder were not more likely to have unmet treatment needs than people without a diagnosed disorder.

Annie Bergeron-Oliver reports for iPolitics, where this article first appeared.