The MIAW team is proud to introduce the new Faces for the 2010 Face Mental Illness campaign!
We’ve selected five Canadians from across Canada who are living successfully with mental illness.
This year's Faces are:
- David Albert Newman is an internal auditor from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
- Marie Asuncion is a musician and ESL teacher from Toronto, Ontario;
- Dr. Ted Jablonski is a family physician from Calgary, Alberta;
- Jennifer Ashawasegai is a journalist and a member of the Anishinabek Nation, in Ontario;
- Christine Dubois, a support worker, volunteer and author from Asbestos, Quebec.
Our five Faces, selected from across Canada, are real-life role models and truly embody the “Approximately one in five Canadians will be affected by mental illness at some point during their lifetime,” says MIAW Chair, Dr. Pamela Forsythe. “The Faces of Mental Illness are real people with real stories of recovery.”
Every day next week, we will be featuring each Face’s story in more detail. First up: Jennifer Ashawasegai. Check back Monday to read more!
6/4/10
Marie Asuncion's Video Blog
Our 2010 Face, Marie Asuncion, will be sending us video blog posts throughout the campaign.
This first video explains her journey from diagnosis to recovery. Enjoy!
This first video explains her journey from diagnosis to recovery. Enjoy!
6/2/10
I am David Albert Newman.
I am David Albert Newman. I was born in 1976 and I am now 34 years old. I have Schizophrenia. It is only a small part of me now. But at one time it was a large part since I was suicidal, depressed, anxious, hallucinating and delusional.
I recovered with medication and effective psychological-social rehabilitation counselling with a skilled, empathetic, and tireless mental health community worker at CMHA-Winnipeg Region. I recovered so well, by resilience and empowerment that I volunteer as the CMHA – Winnipeg Region Board Treasurer. I was also a volunteer with the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) – Winnipeg Chapter as a Board Member and Education Committee Member.
After recovery, I pursued higher education to receive my Certified Internal Auditor designation and my Association of Chartered Certified Accountant designation, to accompany my CGA designation and my Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) – with Distinction. During the fall of 2009 I commenced my MBA, and subsequently I want to study for my Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA). I want my MBA and DBA studies and research to focus upon mental illness, housing, and poverty relative to organizational analysis and the economy. My research will be both descriptive and prescriptive. My focus will be Occupational Health Psychology and Organizational Theory. The reason is that I had persistent troubles with work and I was fired from four jobs, but I was the only one to be found at fault. Employers must share responsibility for the health and safety of employees.
Studies show, such as the Schizophrenia in Canada: A National Report by the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, that there is extended wait time from GP to psychiatric treatment for individuals with a mental illness. Numerous other studies have outlined the high costs of both productivity losses for the economy and mental illness hospitalization.
Given this knowledge, we need to first minimize medical professional and other societal citizens' stigmas and biases towards mental illness patients. Second, more importantly, but following the first point, we need to minimize wait times by hiring more psychiatrists (doctors and nurses), along with psychologists, and community mental health workers, while ensuring they are highly trained and adept at diagnostic medicine (and treatment if so needed). Finally, and most importantly, we MUST encourage PREVENTATIVE ANNUAL MENTAL HEALTH CHECK UPS, BEFORE CRISIS STRIKES i.e. severe depression and anxiety, psychosis, suicide attempted and completed, etc.
This move to Annual Mental Health Check Ups, integrated across the medical professionals, community mental health workers, and patient mentioned could, 1) Save the health care system millions by moving the service wait time bottleneck to the forefront of care where it is less costly compared to the back end hospitalization, 2) Improve the quality of life drastically for the family and the individual with the mental illness before a crisis occurs requiring more significant recovery, and 3) Minimize mental illness stigma by creating a preventative and proactive medicine mindset for medical professionals, community mental health workers, patients, and other citizens.
The Annual Mental Health Check Up for the specific young patient (early age identification is critical to more effective treatment than later illness onset) could consist of risk and mitigation factor analysis including:
• A genetic familial history of mental illness;
• The positive and negative social experiences and stressors;
• The coping behaviours, including substance abuse;
• A symptom delineation of mental illness and whether matching thoughts and behaviours have occurred;
• The social support network;
• The financial support network and financial debt status (in general terms); and
• A preliminary diagnosis, treatment (both medication and psychological-social rehabilitation counselling, if needed), and mental illness acceptance counselling for the patient, family members, and close friends
To achieve this drastic change in thinking, proactive Government promotion of mental health maximization and mental illness minimization are needed considering socially acceptable Annual Mental Health Check Ups. Mental illness stigmatization minimization marketing should also occur, in tandem, for best effects.
Furthermore, we need to re-conceptualize the mental health care system communication, consult, and thus cross competencies. I see a conceptual problem with mental health care to be tested and it is that it may be perceived and enacted as a "continuum of care" rather than a "Venn Diagram of care". The continuum of mental health care places medicating psychiatrists at one end, and community-based counselling services at the other end. In the middle are psychologists. This is a linear representation of care.
This creates a mutual exclusivity and exhaustive presentation of reality that is sub-optimal to integrated mental health care. This arises due to deep specialization.
Instead, we need to keep specialization, but we need coordinated overlap of mental health services. Medication AND counselling are key to mental illness recovery and leveraging of human creative knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Thus, the best depiction of this integrated but specialized model of mental health care is the Venn Diagram. In the centre is the overlap of the service care provided to the patient/client/consumer of mental health services who is also at the centre. This is a multiple circular representation of care.
With this re-conceptualization of the continuum of mental health care, we will move to strengthen coordinated and integrated mental health services to empower mental health service consumers' recovery and to become the best that they can be.
All that is left is to break down the silos that exist between the end points of the continuum of care.
My psychiatrist and psychiatric nurse said three things to my parents when I was completely out of it:
1. David will never work again and will have to be institutionalized for the rest of his life
2. There is no counselling help in Manitoba
3. CMHA Winnipeg cannot help David
I found number two and three to beat the odds of number one. To which I say, it is hard enough to recover from a severe mental illness such as Schizophrenia, Depression, AND Anxiety, but it is made even more difficult when the psychiatric care does not counsel you and provides no solutions beyond heavy medication.
That is where CMHA Winnipeg came in to empower me with a highly skilled and empathetic counsellor in the Rehabilitation and Recovery Service for Psychological-social rehabilitation (PSR).
Thus, the medications were a basis start, but I needed CMHA Winnipeg to re-build skill and confidence to obtain and to hold a job and to learn how to live day-to-day caring for myself. After that, everything else fell into place (especially since I kept my house). Some may say, and to some degree I concur, it's like teaching a baby to walk again. Mental illness can be that bad, but growth afterwards can be that good. As such, I pose to the Minister of Health, please consider my story and know that the continuum of care needs to change to what I propose for greater recovery rates as efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of the mental health care system but in combinational terms of moderate medications from "professionals" and counselling from "grass roots" human beings as human beings for human beings.
Medications matter. But so do people.
Children wait for N.S. mental health services
Children and families are waiting up to a year for a routine referral for mental health services at the IWK Health Centre, a group of Nova Scotia MLAs were told Tuesday.
Senior mental health officials told the community services committee that the health system is struggling to keep up with an ever-growing demand for services.
"We have between 700 and 1,000 children and families waiting. It's a moving target so it changes daily," said Susan Mercer, senior director of mental health and addiction services at the IWK, the children's hospital for the Maritimes.
Mercer said it should take no more than three months to get a regular appointment, but people are now waiting anywhere from six months to a year.
Linda Courey, director of mental health and addictions for the Cape Breton District Health Authority, said early diagnosis and treatment can be key.
"If you can identify these symptoms before the first psychotic episode the major decrease in functioning that these kids will experience over the course of their lives and the subsequent demand on the health-care system, you can prevent that. You can have a massive impact," she said.
But in Cape Breton, as in Halifax, only the sickest get help quickly, Courey added.
Read full article
CBC News
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Senior mental health officials told the community services committee that the health system is struggling to keep up with an ever-growing demand for services.
"We have between 700 and 1,000 children and families waiting. It's a moving target so it changes daily," said Susan Mercer, senior director of mental health and addiction services at the IWK, the children's hospital for the Maritimes.
Mercer said it should take no more than three months to get a regular appointment, but people are now waiting anywhere from six months to a year.
Linda Courey, director of mental health and addictions for the Cape Breton District Health Authority, said early diagnosis and treatment can be key.
"If you can identify these symptoms before the first psychotic episode the major decrease in functioning that these kids will experience over the course of their lives and the subsequent demand on the health-care system, you can prevent that. You can have a massive impact," she said.
But in Cape Breton, as in Halifax, only the sickest get help quickly, Courey added.
Read full article
CBC News
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
6/1/10
My name is Marie Asuncion
My name is Marie Asuncion, and I am a consumer survivor of first episode psychosis also known as schizophrenia. A long time ago, I pictured my life as being a girl walking into her high school for the first time, popular, pretty, and together. But, unfortunately, that all changed after my first year in Grade 9. I lost all faith in myself, my friends disowned me, and high school seemed like a prison, rather than a place to learn. My mind was constantly torturing me for the whole 8 hour days in and out of classes. Teachers began to worry, but I knew worrying about people worrying about me wasn’t going to make my situation any better. I knew I had no way out. If I had to do it all by myself, (the recovery process), I knew I would fail, and probably would never end up in any of the places my dreams had told me I would end up. Do I give up? Is this what my life is going to be like now? A life with misery, torture, insomnia, voices, paranoia, crying fits and frustration? Would it ever end?
10 years later, I’m here. I’m here and I’m flourishing. I yearn to help others now with mental health, because to me, recovery is possible and we are slowly getting there. Stigma is a thing of the past for me, it may not be for others, but that’s the main reason I think the way I do- “Recovery is Possible”, says Marie, on and on in her head. So, after those pivotal 10 years later, could I say now that it has ended? Yes, I can, and, it has.
I’m a woman with dreams. A woman with a passion to love others and teach. I love my job, my family, and of coarse, the people in my life that make life so worth it to keep going. Prayer, for me, has saved my butt. But without God, nothing is ever possible.
And so now, I realize that I am not alone in this world, with this mental health problem. It’s more in the dark now, but in a good way. We shed light on mental illness, but not on how it belittles our minds to believe we have no purpose in this life. I’m proud to be where I am today. And I can say that I have met some pretty amazing individuals that I can also be proud of. Like me, they fight, and we are now living normal lives, like normal people. Because, we are normal.
We fight for our rights, and this is the whole thing behind Mental Illness Awareness week. People have to be AWARE. And so, being chosen to be a face for MIAW, is not only a blessing, but one more of an opportunity that can help not one, but many people see that in the faces of those healed, hope, change, endurance, and peace can be theirs too. Thank you MIAW for choosing me as the face for mental illness awareness week! And let’s continue working together to strive for change, and one day see the face of adversity as something of a distant past.
Marie Asuncion
Humour the best medicine for mental health patients
Dave Nelson (left), executive director of the province's division of the Canadian Mental Health Association, watches comedian Ian Morrison go through his routine in Regina on Monday.
Photograph by: Don Healy, Leader-Post, The Leader-Post
"If the audience doesn't laugh, that's their fault" -- that was a humorous lesson a young Ian Morrison learned from watching standup comedy legend George Carlin.
Now, as a teacher of standup comedy, Morrison has created his own musings on comedy.
"What you need to focus on is having fun -- do this because you want to do it and have fun," said the 16-year veteran of standup comedy and former student of the Humber School of Comedy Writing and Performance in Toronto.
Morrison has teamed up with the Saskatchewan Division of the Canadian Mental Health Association and created a program to help mental health patients perform standup comedy and learn valuable life lessons.
Read full article
By Doyle Fox, The Leader-Post
5/31/10
Schools lack access to mental-health professionals, report says
While more and more children are being diagnosed with mental-health problems and learning disabilities, schools are struggling to gain access to mental-health professionals with the expertise to address their students’ learning needs, according to a report released Monday by a parent advocacy group.
The report, which was compiled by People for Education and based on a survey of Ontario principals, found that less than half of the province’s secondary schools have regular access to psychologists and youth workers.
“Maybe it’s not necessarily your kid, but if we want our schools to be thriving happy places where kids can work and learn, it’s really important that we deal with mental health,” said Annie Kidder, executive director of People for Education and an author of the report. “If you have a school where some kids can function and others can’t, nobody can learn easily.”
Do you think schools are doing enough to raise awareness and provide support for mental health in schools?
Read full article
The report, which was compiled by People for Education and based on a survey of Ontario principals, found that less than half of the province’s secondary schools have regular access to psychologists and youth workers.
“Maybe it’s not necessarily your kid, but if we want our schools to be thriving happy places where kids can work and learn, it’s really important that we deal with mental health,” said Annie Kidder, executive director of People for Education and an author of the report. “If you have a school where some kids can function and others can’t, nobody can learn easily.”
Do you think schools are doing enough to raise awareness and provide support for mental health in schools?
Read full article
Stigma-free alternate world beckons
Even when the tickets were sold out, people kept phoning, hoping a spot would open up. Clearly, Toronto's first mental health camp met a need.
The day-long “unconference” — as organizers described it — was an opportunity for people with mental illness, those who care for them, and those who care about them, to explore the benefits and dangers of social networking.
It's a new frontier for those trapped and stigmatized by their diagnosis.
“People have found a place where they are able to be themselves,” said organizer Anne Ptasznik, who has worked in the mental health field for 15 years. “You're a Facebook friend first, who happens to have a mental illness.”
Do you feel there is less stigma of mental illness in the online community?
Read full article
The day-long “unconference” — as organizers described it — was an opportunity for people with mental illness, those who care for them, and those who care about them, to explore the benefits and dangers of social networking.
It's a new frontier for those trapped and stigmatized by their diagnosis.
“People have found a place where they are able to be themselves,” said organizer Anne Ptasznik, who has worked in the mental health field for 15 years. “You're a Facebook friend first, who happens to have a mental illness.”
Do you feel there is less stigma of mental illness in the online community?
Read full article
5/28/10
Immune System Troubles Could Spark Behavior Woes
Fixing gene connected to immune system cured 'hair-pulling' disorder in mice, study found
In the first scientific illustration of exactly how some psychiatric illnesses might be linked to an immune system gone awry, researchers report they cured mice of an obsessive-compulsive condition known as "hair-pulling disorder" by tweaking the rodents' immune systems.
Although scientists have noticed a link between the immune system and psychiatric illnesses, this is the first evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship, said the authors of a study appearing in the May 28 issue of the journal Cell. The "cure" in this case was a bone marrow transplant, which replaced a defective gene with a normal one.
The excitement lies in the fact that this could open the way to new treatments for different mental disorders, although bone marrow transplants, which can be life-threatening in themselves, are not a likely candidate, at least not at this point.
Read full article
HealthDay News
By Amanda Gardner
May 27, 2010
In the first scientific illustration of exactly how some psychiatric illnesses might be linked to an immune system gone awry, researchers report they cured mice of an obsessive-compulsive condition known as "hair-pulling disorder" by tweaking the rodents' immune systems.
Although scientists have noticed a link between the immune system and psychiatric illnesses, this is the first evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship, said the authors of a study appearing in the May 28 issue of the journal Cell. The "cure" in this case was a bone marrow transplant, which replaced a defective gene with a normal one.
The excitement lies in the fact that this could open the way to new treatments for different mental disorders, although bone marrow transplants, which can be life-threatening in themselves, are not a likely candidate, at least not at this point.
Read full article
HealthDay News
By Amanda Gardner
May 27, 2010
Whitby students strive to stop the stigma of mental illness
Catholic school donates more than $2,000 to Ontario Shores foundation
How are you working to reduce the stigma?
Students at All Saints Catholic Secondary School are spreading the word about the need to reduce social stigma with the launch of the school's first Mental Health Awareness Week.
After recently attending a Stomp out Stigma Summit on mental health, a group of senior students at the Whitby school united to come up with ways to help the cause and raise money for Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health. "Not a lot of students are comfortable getting help or know that help is available," said Zachary Leveque-Wilson, member of the Stomp out Stigma group.
Read full article
durhamregion.com
Parvaneh Pessian
May 28, 2010
How are you working to reduce the stigma?
Students at All Saints Catholic Secondary School are spreading the word about the need to reduce social stigma with the launch of the school's first Mental Health Awareness Week.
After recently attending a Stomp out Stigma Summit on mental health, a group of senior students at the Whitby school united to come up with ways to help the cause and raise money for Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health. "Not a lot of students are comfortable getting help or know that help is available," said Zachary Leveque-Wilson, member of the Stomp out Stigma group.
Read full article
durhamregion.com
Parvaneh Pessian
May 28, 2010
5/27/10
May is mental health month
Mental health services are not restricted to adults in North and South Delta.
A Canadian Psychiatric Association study found youth were not only facing enormous amounts of stress in their lives, they were also more likely to talk to a peer or not access any support at all than to turn to teachers, parents or professionals.
"Research indicates that the occurrence and severity of mental illness can be reduced through early intervention,"Turner said. "Young people and their families do suffer needlessly because of reluctance to access treatment and support. Increasing awareness of mental health issues among youth will result in a healthier community." Says Lynn Turner, executive director and operations manager, YouthNet Delta
Read full article
BCLocalNews.com
By Philip Raphael - South Delta Leader
May 27, 2010
A Canadian Psychiatric Association study found youth were not only facing enormous amounts of stress in their lives, they were also more likely to talk to a peer or not access any support at all than to turn to teachers, parents or professionals.
"Research indicates that the occurrence and severity of mental illness can be reduced through early intervention,"Turner said. "Young people and their families do suffer needlessly because of reluctance to access treatment and support. Increasing awareness of mental health issues among youth will result in a healthier community." Says Lynn Turner, executive director and operations manager, YouthNet Delta
Read full article
BCLocalNews.com
By Philip Raphael - South Delta Leader
May 27, 2010
Award comes as a surprise to Riverside resident
Dexter Roberts' struggles with mental illness an inspiration to many
Riverside resident Dexter Roberts didn't intend to be an inspiration to others, it just happened.
A resident of the Queen Street and Broadview Avenue area, the 39 year old was diagnosed with depression several years ago and has fought a tough battle to learn to cope with the ups and downs brought on by his illness.
Read full article
InsideToronto.com
Joanina Lavoie
May 26, 2010
5/26/10
For mental-health patients, bank accounts are small assets with big payoffs
A bank account is a critical first step to independence for those suffering everything from depression to schizophrenia.
Banks were the last place Eliza felt comfortable.
People stared. There were lineups. The whole process was confusing, intimidating. When she first went with her social worker to get a bank account three years ago, she was so agitated that she verged on the hostile.
As months went by, though, and tellers greeted her by name, banking got easier. Eliza (not her real name) started to make eye contact with staff and chat about the weather. Nowadays, she goes every week on her own, and greets other customers in line.
Read full article
Tavia Grant
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published on Tuesday, May. 25, 2010 4:17PM EDT
5/25/10
Modern lifestyles leave us feeling lonely
The fast pace of modern life is leaving people feeling increasingly isolated and lonely, a mental health charity claims.
The rise in individualism and family breakdown – and changes in relationships and the workplace – make it more difficult for us to connect with others, according to the Mental Health Foundation (MHF).
Read full article
How do you make time for face-to-face contact with friends and family?
The rise in individualism and family breakdown – and changes in relationships and the workplace – make it more difficult for us to connect with others, according to the Mental Health Foundation (MHF).
Read full article
How do you make time for face-to-face contact with friends and family?
5/21/10
Senior depression often overrlooked: Study
The high number of seniors who live in residential care homes and experience depression is a health concern that demands greater attention, according to a new report.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information gathered information about 50,000 seniors in nursing homes and similar residences and found that almost 45 per cent had symptoms of depression or were diagnosed with it.
Read full article
The Canadian Institute for Health Information gathered information about 50,000 seniors in nursing homes and similar residences and found that almost 45 per cent had symptoms of depression or were diagnosed with it.
Read full article
5/20/10
Welcome to Mental Illness Awareness Week 2010!
As Chair of the MIAW Committee, and a member of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH), I would like to welcome you to this year’s campaign.
This year, Mental Illness Awareness Week will run from October 3 – 9.
Please visit our blog regularly during the year to get updates on the campaign, and news on the state and progress of mental health advocacy in Canada.
We are also launching a new element to the campaign this year. Supporters can follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook!
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
Our past and present Faces of Mental Illness will share their personal experiences and insights through this blog, on Twitter and Facebook. We encourage you to share your own stories by getting in touch with us through these social networks and through our website.
By sharing these stories we can reduce stigma, provide hope for others, and show that Recovery is Possible.
Sincerely,
Dr. Pamela Forsythe
Chair, MIAW Committee
Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health
5/18/10
Embracing Diversity by Wallace Malay
In this article, written for Vancouver Island University's the Nav, Wallace Malay shares his experience as a post-secondary student with bipolar disorder (manic depressive).
“Suddenly I came to the realization that I am not ashamed of who I am, and that others were accepting of who I was also.”
Read Article Here
Wallace Malay is one of this year's Online Faces of Mental Illness.
5/13/10
Trudeau speaks on struggle with bipolar disorder
Former prime minister’s wife Margaret Trudeau shed some light on the difficulty of living with mental illness at the seventh annual Ladies Night Out, at the Listowel Agricultural Hall on May 7.
Read full article
Margaret Trudeau discusses the importance of having someone serve as an advocate and be there for you.
Do you have a person you'd like to thank for being your advocate?
Read full article
Margaret Trudeau discusses the importance of having someone serve as an advocate and be there for you.
Do you have a person you'd like to thank for being your advocate?
5/12/10
New Lt.-Gov. plans to meet as many Albertans as he can
Alberta's new lieutenant governor, retired Col. Donald Ethell, plans to reach out to people with mental illness, families of fallen soldiers, and Aboriginal communities.
"He has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and said it's healthy the stigma is being lifted from other soldiers and emergency personnel who live with it."
[Disponible en anglais seulement]
Click here to read the complete article.
"He has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and said it's healthy the stigma is being lifted from other soldiers and emergency personnel who live with it."
[Disponible en anglais seulement]
Click here to read the complete article.
11/20/09
Faces of Mental Illness
Andy Sibbald
Andy Sibbald
Throughout my life I have had some very good jobs in the addiction’s field. These jobs have ranged from coordinating community based alcohol and drug programs to managing a Territorial alcohol and drug program. I have worked with some wonderful people who I have very fond memories of. Knowing what I know now it is surprising that I was able to function in such good jobs.
The first community I moved to in the N.W.T (now Nunavut) was Coppermine (now Kugluktuk). I was to serve as Coordinator of the local alcohol and drug program there. The community was 97% Inuit so culture shock should have come as no surprise. Many things I had learned in the south had no relevancy in the north and it took time to replace what didn’t work with what did work in my new setting. My whole psyche changed to accommodate my new reality. I felt lost at times because I had gone from being highly competent in the south to knowing very little of what mattered in my new northern environment.
Traumatized
Within the first week of my moving to Coppermine the local Anglican Minister knocked on my door and asked if I would help him. He was a thin little man with glasses who had a British accent and seemed highly energetic. I wanted to fit into the community so said I would be happy to help him. He said we would just need to go next door to a white trailer identical to mine and deal with a problem there. I had no idea what he was talking about and wondered what the problem could possibly be-did he think I was a plumber or something?
When we entered the trailer we walked into a totally unfurnished living room that had dark wooden paneling on the walls and some depressing brown carpet on the floor. It was quite dingy but I immediately noticed a young man about twenty lying on the floor besides a very large plywood box. I looked at the Minister and he said, “He killed himself yesterday and I need you to help me put him in the box”. He then said, “I hope he hasn’t stiffened up or we may have to break his legs to get him into the box.” I was quite surprised by the whole episode and certainly would have never experienced something like this in southern Canada. I liked to think experiences like this had no effect on me. I now realize they had a profound impact on me.
The north required I either make major changes psychologically or leave. I made the changes necessary to stay. After twenty years of working in northern alcohol and drug programs I moved to Nanaimo, BC. My new job would require me to develop an educational system for a number of addiction’s clinicians on Vancouver Island. It seemed like a good job and I was quite excited about working with my new boss and colleagues
The Meltdown
When I got to Nanaimo I could sense something was wrong. So many people knew so much more than me about living in the south. Much of what I had learned in the north simply did not matter in this new environment. Within three months of moving to Nanaimo a doctor determined that I was unable to work, a psychologist said my anxiety level was so high my test results could not be accurately interpreted and I felt vulnerable and alone. I had no idea what was wrong and was confused by my rapidly declining health. Within three months I had moved from an excellent job and contented lifestyle to someone on disability pension who was questioning their own sanity. I remain on disability three years later and for some reasons have not been able to get to a place where I am able to work in any type of job.
Changing Sides of the Desk
I found out about, and was referred into, a dialectical behavioral therapy group run by local mental health and addiction’s clinicians. Ironically, I was previously employed to design an educational system for the same clinicians from whom I now received service. The psychologist and psychiatrist I was seeing also worked for the same agency I had worked for. Now I had changed sides of the desk and was a client rather than an employee. I felt shame, guilt and embarrassment when I went to receive services from my colleagues. My memory was not very good and I found myself functioning at a comparatively low level. In spite of my feelings I continued to attend my appointments and group sessions and found the process very helpful! The clinicians with whom I had worked were both supportive and highly professional. They treated me very kindly which was important because my life as I had known it was shattered.
It was a humbling experience to require services from people I had worked with in the addictions and mental health field. I do not know if I have always been mentally ill but in my new southern environment have been unable to compensate for my illness. I know my life has forever changed. I believe my experience with the Anglican Minister and the dead young man, coupled with seeing hundreds of other comparable events first hand, traumatized me. In order to survive in the north I was required to make psychological and emotional shifts to adapt. These changes are now so well entrenched and specific to the north that I have been unable to adapt to the south. I still wonder what happened and probably will for the remainder of my life.
In spite of being on a disability pension I have developed a life worth living one day at a time. I am extremely grateful for the support of medical professionals, family and friends. I have become a writer and public speaker and am enjoying life very much.
The first community I moved to in the N.W.T (now Nunavut) was Coppermine (now Kugluktuk). I was to serve as Coordinator of the local alcohol and drug program there. The community was 97% Inuit so culture shock should have come as no surprise. Many things I had learned in the south had no relevancy in the north and it took time to replace what didn’t work with what did work in my new setting. My whole psyche changed to accommodate my new reality. I felt lost at times because I had gone from being highly competent in the south to knowing very little of what mattered in my new northern environment.
Traumatized
Within the first week of my moving to Coppermine the local Anglican Minister knocked on my door and asked if I would help him. He was a thin little man with glasses who had a British accent and seemed highly energetic. I wanted to fit into the community so said I would be happy to help him. He said we would just need to go next door to a white trailer identical to mine and deal with a problem there. I had no idea what he was talking about and wondered what the problem could possibly be-did he think I was a plumber or something?
When we entered the trailer we walked into a totally unfurnished living room that had dark wooden paneling on the walls and some depressing brown carpet on the floor. It was quite dingy but I immediately noticed a young man about twenty lying on the floor besides a very large plywood box. I looked at the Minister and he said, “He killed himself yesterday and I need you to help me put him in the box”. He then said, “I hope he hasn’t stiffened up or we may have to break his legs to get him into the box.” I was quite surprised by the whole episode and certainly would have never experienced something like this in southern Canada. I liked to think experiences like this had no effect on me. I now realize they had a profound impact on me.
The north required I either make major changes psychologically or leave. I made the changes necessary to stay. After twenty years of working in northern alcohol and drug programs I moved to Nanaimo, BC. My new job would require me to develop an educational system for a number of addiction’s clinicians on Vancouver Island. It seemed like a good job and I was quite excited about working with my new boss and colleagues
The Meltdown
When I got to Nanaimo I could sense something was wrong. So many people knew so much more than me about living in the south. Much of what I had learned in the north simply did not matter in this new environment. Within three months of moving to Nanaimo a doctor determined that I was unable to work, a psychologist said my anxiety level was so high my test results could not be accurately interpreted and I felt vulnerable and alone. I had no idea what was wrong and was confused by my rapidly declining health. Within three months I had moved from an excellent job and contented lifestyle to someone on disability pension who was questioning their own sanity. I remain on disability three years later and for some reasons have not been able to get to a place where I am able to work in any type of job.
Changing Sides of the Desk
I found out about, and was referred into, a dialectical behavioral therapy group run by local mental health and addiction’s clinicians. Ironically, I was previously employed to design an educational system for the same clinicians from whom I now received service. The psychologist and psychiatrist I was seeing also worked for the same agency I had worked for. Now I had changed sides of the desk and was a client rather than an employee. I felt shame, guilt and embarrassment when I went to receive services from my colleagues. My memory was not very good and I found myself functioning at a comparatively low level. In spite of my feelings I continued to attend my appointments and group sessions and found the process very helpful! The clinicians with whom I had worked were both supportive and highly professional. They treated me very kindly which was important because my life as I had known it was shattered.
It was a humbling experience to require services from people I had worked with in the addictions and mental health field. I do not know if I have always been mentally ill but in my new southern environment have been unable to compensate for my illness. I know my life has forever changed. I believe my experience with the Anglican Minister and the dead young man, coupled with seeing hundreds of other comparable events first hand, traumatized me. In order to survive in the north I was required to make psychological and emotional shifts to adapt. These changes are now so well entrenched and specific to the north that I have been unable to adapt to the south. I still wonder what happened and probably will for the remainder of my life.
In spite of being on a disability pension I have developed a life worth living one day at a time. I am extremely grateful for the support of medical professionals, family and friends. I have become a writer and public speaker and am enjoying life very much.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)