Support for Family and Friends of Persons Living with Mental Illness

Monday, December 7th, 7:00 pm

New Minas

A Self-Help Group in Kings County, Nova Scotia

Caring for a loved one who is dealing with a mental illness can require emotional and practical support. You are not alone. This self-help group was started in the fall of 2008 to share personal experiences in response to the need of support for the families and friends of persons living with serious mental illness.

While it originated through families involved in the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia (SSNS), the group feels it can offer support to families dealing with a wide range of brain illnesses, including psychosis (a break with reality), major depression, and bipolar disorder. This is not a resource group to provide technical, medical or legal aid, or for advocacy - although our experiences may have touched on these issues. Everything shared within the group is confidential.


We meet on the first Monday of each month from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, except then this day is a statutory holiday. Meetings are not held during the summer months of July and August.

Location

1032 Club Crescent
New Minas, Nova Scotia


For further information, please contact Roger Cann at 902-681-2448, or send an email to kcschizsoc@outlook.com.


The Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia exists to improve the quality of life for those affected by schizophrenia and psychosis through education, support programs, public policy and research ... including their families.


Helping hands graphic courtesy of Lincalinca.

Learning about Schizophrenia: Rays of Hope

A Reference Manual for Families & Caregivers

Revised Fourth Edition (2012)

Please click on the image to magnify it.

To download the 2012 fourth revised edition of Rays of Hope (PDF), please click here.

Printed copies of Rays of Hope are available from the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia at a cost of $10.00 (including shipping).  To order a copy with payment by Visa, MasterCard, or American Express, please call (902) 465-2601 or 1-800-465-2601 (toll-free in Nova Scotia), or send a cheque or money order to:

Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia
Room B-23, Purdy Building
P.O. Box 1004
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
B2Y 3Z9

Serious Mental Illness, Care-Giver Stress and the Mental Health Commission of Canada

An article posted on June 24th by Huffpost Canada:

By Marvin Ross

Caring for a family member with a serious mental illness (mainly schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) is often extremely stressful for families; it impacts them financially, emotionally, socially and physically.

Hoping to improve the situations for the tens of thousands of families in this situation, a group of 45 B.C. families sent suggestions to the Mental Health Commission of Canada with the hope that the Commission would adopt them and help support families. Their suggestions were sent via e-mail and were widely distributed.

The Commission had previously stated they wanted to hear from stakeholders. But, Susan Inman [pictured], a Vancouver teacher, writer and parent said in an e-mail to me, "We didn't feel very reassured" that they are listening. "We are still hoping that Ms. Bradley will respond to our suggestions."

Ms. Inman is the unofficial group spokesperson and Louise Bradley is chair and CEO of the commission.

The commission defines itself as "a catalyst for transformative change" with the goal to, among other things, "improve services and support." The organization arose from the report Out of the Shadows at Last -- Transforming Mental Health, Mental Illness and Addiction Services in Canada in 2006. It received federal funding in 2007.

Ms. Inman further stated in her e-mail:

"I don't think that family caregivers for people with psychotic disorders are feeling hopeful when we see the limited agenda promoted by the Family Caregivers Advisory Committee (FCAC) on the Mental Health Commission of Canada's website. The group pointed out that the only research project the FCAC listed, a family mutual assistance strategy, has already been well researched in BC.

The group also pointed out that, by selecting this as their one project, the FCAC is communicating that "the message that what is most important is for caregivers to just learn how to take better care of each other. Meeting the needs of family caregivers involves much more careful examination of many systemic issues."

One suggestion is to research the quantity and nature of family care-giving for people with serious mental illnesses and to estimate the value of the unpaid family labour in terms of decreasing health care costs. The group also believes that the Commission should advocate to raise the standards of programs training mental health professionals to include science based approaches to understanding severe mental illnesses. Many professionals are not knowledgeable about advances in brain research and often still believe that families cause these mental illnesses. Inadequately trained mental health professionals aren't equipped to refer to early intervention programs -- a new best practice being implemented across the country. The group would like to see more collaboration between families and professionals.

One area of growing scientific understanding is of anosognosia -- the neurologically based inability of someone who is ill to understand that they are ill. Research shows that 40 to 50 per cent of people in the grip of a psychosis suffer this and it often results in treatment refusal.

Family caregivers wish to see the Commission recognize this problem and to recognize the need, at times, for involuntary treatment. Many have ill relatives who look to their families to ensure that they are not left untreated and allowed to deteriorate in case of a relapse. Families need help to gain access to legal means to be able to fulfil this responsibility.

Parents often still continue to experience the destructive impact of unjustified blame for these disorders -- a holdover from the non-research based and unscientific theories that dominated psychiatry and psychology in the past. These parents would like to see the Commission openly acknowledge and address this.

Finally, the language in Commission documents suggests that severe and persistent mental illnesses, like other mental health concerns, may be caused by adverse social circumstances. The Commission should openly support a science based understanding of these neurobiological disorders. As well, it should actively promote the brain based research that can lead to better treatments and, ultimately, cures. Currently, on the Commission's Science Advisory Committee site, there are no proposals for encouraging ongoing scientific investigation of any kind of mental illness.

The group has yet to hear from Ms. Bradley. They did receive a response from Ella Amir, Chair, Family Caregivers Advisory Committee (FCAC). She stated in her e-mail reply to the group, "One of the projects the FCAC has proposed focuses on the same concerns you describe... if approved, this proposed project will address yours (and our) concerns," Since Ms. Amir didn't describe any of the proposed projects, Ms. Inman didn't feel reassured that the FCAC is moving in the right direction.

Ms Amir did add that she was sure that Ms Bradley would also reply. When contacted, Kyle Marr, a spokesperson for the Commission, said he understood their concerns about not having any reply yet but "due to the depth of the email and the issues that it addressed, careful consideration is required".


Follow Marvin Ross on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dysdads

Photo credit

Living with Mental Illness: A Guide for Family and Friends

To download the entire guidebook (PDF), please click here.

For an online version of the guidebook, please click here.

Also see:

Supporting a Family Member

Carers and confidentiality in mental health: Issues involved in information-sharing (PDF)

Capital District Mental Health Program Disclosure Guidelines

Capital District Mental Health Program Wellness Plan (PDF)

Putting the sibling back into the family

A December 8th news story from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine:

By Laurie Wang

The role of brothers and sisters is often overlooked when it comes to family support for those with mental illness.

“When people think of family, they often think of the parents, not the siblings,” said Liz Taylor, professor of occupational therapy at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. “There’s a lifelong impact on the healthy sibling living with the ill sibling—something we often forget.”

The researcher conducted a narrative study on women who had a sibling with schizophrenia. She also spoke on the topic at the University of Alberta Calgary Centre Rehabilitation Seminar Series in mid November.

“The siblings wanted to be involved, but never got to be. Perhaps the parents were trying to protect them, but they told me they felt left out of the medical education the parents received,” Taylor said. “And then when they’re older, their parents are aging so they are the ones being asked to be caregivers, but they don’t have all the information.”

It is also common for the parents to focus on the child with mental illness over the others. Taylor explained that from the people she interviewed, a majority reported that they would feel left out so they’d cope by having achievements outside the home.

“Leisurely activities became a form of escape. The women in the study were highly successful and well-educated. They perceived themselves as helpers—some were health-care professionals themselves,” Taylor said. “But they always felt they had to be even more successful and needed to achieve more.”

An underlying theme was the inability to enjoy time with family.

“They felt they were unable to celebrate and that they had to put on an act that they were happy. One woman said to me, ‘I feel like a fraud with my own children,’” she explained.

All of the women in the study were willing to accept that they would need to be caregivers to their siblings. “It wasn’t a matter of ‘I don’t want to’; it was a matter of ‘I don’t know how to.’ They just felt like they were doing it without any information,” said Taylor.
She stressed the importance of letting the healthy sibling be involved early on, even at a young age.

“Health-care professionals need to know that family is more than just mom and dad. Everyone in the family needs to learn how to give support,” she said. “As an occupational therapist working with families, I need to remind myself to include the siblings when I talk to families too.”

Taylor is teaching her occupational therapy students how to be more inclusive in their future practice and get the whole family involved.

“I’d also like to see the future generation of parents demanding that all their children are involved. Teachers should also encourage healthy siblings to take part in being part of the support and solution,” she continued.

Taylor says that the Schizophrenia Society of Canada and other organizations have played a positive role in educating people and providing information, but that teachers, parents, health-care workers and friends need to provide support for the sibling too.

“There needs to be more support groups for the siblings. We need to encourage them to get the information and education they need,” Taylor said. “The more you understand, the more you can give support and be a part of the team.”

Links:

• Download PDF of story published in Edmonton Journal

About the University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine

As the only free standing faculty of rehabilitation in Canada, the University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine balances its activities among learning, discovery and citizenship (including clinical practice). A research leader in musculoskeletal health, spinal cord injuries and common spinal disorders (back pain), the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine aims to improve the quality of life of citizens in our community. The three departments, Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT) and Speech Pathology and Audiology (SPA) offer professional entry programs. The Faculty offers thesis-based MSc and PhD programs in Rehabilitation Science, attracting students from a variety of disciplines including OT, PT, SLP, psychology, physical education, medicine and engineering.

Photo credit

The Hidden Business Cost of Mental Illness

An article posted December 3rd on blogs.harvardbusiness.org:

By Stew Friedman (pictured)

It's hard to focus on your work when your child is hallucinating.

One of the least discussed yet quite salient issues for American business in this year of health care reform is an important yet hidden cost associated with mental illness: the drain on productive work endured by family members struggling to support loved ones who suffer from such diseases. The good news for business leaders is that it's not hard to do something to help and thus feel good while improving company culture and morale, as well as your bottom line.

Mental illness comes in a staggering array of forms, and affects a broad swath of our general population. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an "estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year."

Awareness and understanding of mental illness has grown in recent years; still, it's often not taken seriously or treated as a legitimate medical disease either by businesses, by the health care system, or by our society. Indeed, too many people remain reluctant to get the help they need because of the stigma associated with mental illness. The website bringchange2mind.org (with a powerful new public service video by film director Ron Howard) asserts that "for many, the stigma associated with the illness can be as great a challenge as the disease itself."

This stigma extends beyond those directly stricken to family members. Parents of children with mental illness are often viewed as guilty by association, unfairly perceived as the cause of the illness — the source of harmful child-rearing practices — when the origin is mainly biological. Parents and other family members feel shame and a sense of failure. I know because one of my adult children suffers from a toxic combination of schizophrenia (a thought disorder) and bipolar illness (a mood disorder).

There are real costs associated with employees having to carry this heavy weight of worry and responsibility, especially if they feel they must do so without the understanding and support of their organization. There is stress, unwanted social isolation in the workplace, and the feeling that they must find clandestine ways of responding to urgent demands for their attention. All of this undermines productivity by causing burn-out, unplanned absences, distractions from focused effort on tasks, and poor confidence in being able to contribute to the team.

As a leader in your organization, you can reduce these costs and inspire greater performance from valued employees. You can enable them to feel freer to ask for the help they need in supporting their families by changing how you think , how you talk, and how you act. In turn, they are bound to repay you with extraordinary effort and commitment to your goals and to your company.

Mind your attitude. Changing your attitude toward one of greater understanding and acceptance requires education (see, for example, this recent Harris survey on schizophrenia). If an employee with dependent care responsibilities born of a physical abnormality or illness needs to bring a loved one to a doctor's visit, no one judges him harshly. Indeed, this is likely to evoke sympathy. On the other hand, if he has to disrupt his work schedule to care for a family member, who — for reasons difficult to grasp and explain — cannot be left alone for fear of hearing voices or of some other dread psychological symptom, then he might well be reluctant to risk letting others know why he needs the time because they might look askance or even question his own mental stability. Your attitude can make all the difference. By taking mental illness as seriously as any physical illness, you convey emotional support and encourage employees to get the help they need to cope with the strains of caring for their sick loved one.

Watch your words. The words you use, and the way you use them, convey your attitude. Here's a tip from bringchange2mind.org: "Refrain from using terms like 'crazy,' 'nuts,' 'psycho' and 'lunatic.' While there may be times when it is too challenging or simply not possible to politely correct someone else's insensitive use of language, you can always try to watch your own." To combat harmful stereotypes and demonstrate understanding, it's better to say, for example, that someone "has schizophrenia" than to call that person a "schizophrenic" — the illness is not the person.

Model behavior. The kinds of actions that show genuine support are the same ones you'd want to show all your employees in treating them as whole people, with important aspects of life playing out beyond the bounds of work: Initiate and encourage dialogue with an open mind, address the individual needs of each employee, respect confidentiality, and be flexible and willing to engage in joint problem-solving while focusing on results that matter to you and to them.

Change the culture. As a business leader you are in a position to have a positive influence on the culture of your organization which, in turn affects all your employees as well as other stakeholders — clients and customers, suppliers, community members, and so on. Your supportive attitude about those who are forced to live with mental illness — with the words and deeds to reinforce it — can shape your company's values and the behavior in it that determine whether or not all your people get the help they need to both contribute fully to your business and lead productive lives.

What else can be done to make it easier for parents and other loved ones of those who live with mental illness to perform well at work? Please comment and share your stories, advice, and resources.


Stewart D. Friedman is Practice Professor of Management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia. He is the founding director of Wharton’s Leadership Program and of its Work/Life Integration Project, and the former head of Ford Motor’s Leadership Development Center. He is the author of numerous books and articles on leadership development, work/life integration, and the dynamics of change, including the bestselling Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life, from Harvard Business Press. For more, please visit www.totalleadership.org.

Photo credit

Also see:

Work, Recovery and Inclusion: Employment support for people in contact with secondary mental health services (U.K.)

SANE launches website for teens in families affected by mental illness

A June 16th media release from SANE Australia:

SANE Australia today launches a new website – itsallright.org – to support the half a million Australian teenagers affected by mental illness in their family.

Executive Director of SANE Australia Barbara Hocking says, ‘this is often the untold story of mental illness – the impact on teenagers who have a brother, sister or parent with a mental illness such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar or an anxiety disorder.

‘These teenagers are a high risk group – they’re not only managing the confusion and powerlessness of a family member’s mental illness but, without support, are also more likely to experience mental illness themselves. This can be a vicious cycle that can be difficult to escape. Many may feel they are the only ones this is happening to and that they cannot ask for help.’

itsallright.org aims to break this cycle by giving control back to teenagers through information and reassurance. The website centres on the stories of four teenagers, told through online diary entries, who have a family member with a mental illness. The website also provides factsheets and podcasts about mental illness and treatment as well as an online helpline for teenagers to ask their own questions or seek support.

Ms Hocking says, ‘itsallright.org aims to help these teenagers regain control and feel less isolated. The website was built specifically for teenagers and has been designed to help them access the information they want, in a format they want.’

A recent study* by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that one in five Australians had a mental disorder within a one-year period, leading SANE to estimate that half a million teenagers are managing the impact of the mental illness of a brother, sister or parent every year.

The impact on teenagers with mental illness in the family can be profound: often leaving them feeling distressed and isolated. They often experience confusion, loneliness, shame, embarrassment, or guilt. Their home life may be impacted by poverty, periods of homelessness or the hospitalisation for their relative.

Features of itsallright.org:

• A key feature of the service is the stories of four teenagers with a family member affected by mental illness: Sarah, Rani, Jenna and Brett. The characters are based on the real-life experience of teenagers who helped create the site.

• An online helpline for teenagers to ask questions about mental illness and related topics

• Factsheets on everything from antidepressants to suicide prevention, cannabis and psychosis; family support to treatment and recovery

• Podcasts which provide information about the full range of mental health problems and treatment.

Note to Editors

• SANE Australia’s Executive Director Barbara Hocking is available for interview
• Screengrabs of itsallright.org are available
• Images of Sarah, Rani, Jenna and Brett are available
  

* National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results, 2007 (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

"An enormous gift": Psychosis booklet emphasizes family care

A May 12th news release from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH):

When someone experiences a psychotic episode for the first time, one of the most valuable sources of support is their family. As author and CAMH Family Worker Sabrina Baker [pictured, person on right] explains, the complexities and challenges they face can often lead to frustration, a sense of isolation, and even raise concerns about their own mental health.

A new CAMH-published book will help to inform and support families facing these situations, and it’s already garnering positive responses. Written by Sabrina, who works in the First Episode department, and Lisa Martens (formerly of CAMH), Promoting Recovery from First-Episode Psychosis was launched last week. The book is also available in electronic form - click here to download. (PDF)

To read the entire article, please click here.

Also see:

Family-Centered Care Initiative

Photo courtesy of CAMH.

Patients' rights frustrate families

An article published in the March 12th edition of The Globe and Mail:

By André Picard (pictured)

The trial of Vince Li, the so-called "Greyhound bus killer," garnered a lot of media attention. There is no need to rehash the gruesome details.

But let's linger on one aspect of the case, because much was made of the fact that Mr. Li suffers from a severe mental illness, schizophrenia.

This is the story of someone else who suffers from schizophrenia.

His name is Matt. Like most [people with schizophrenia], he has never harmed anyone physically - except himself.

But he and his illness have caused his family and friends untold pain - a pain made more searing by the coverage of Mr. Li's trial. The descriptions of him as "psycho," a "sicko," a "nutcase" and so on hurt profoundly; so, too, did the focus on Mr. Li's "crazy" symptoms and the lack of attention paid to the fact that he was untreated for a treatable condition.

"Nobody deserves to die like that young man on the bus. But seeing the way schizophrenia was reported made me sick," said Steve, Matt's father.

They have a last name, but have asked that it not be used. There is a lot of stigma surrounding mental illness, and vilification of the mentally ill. "I'm self-employed and I can't afford having people think of me as the father of a 'freak.' That's the sad reality," Steve says.

But, at the same time, Steve wants the public to see another side of schizophrenia, one that will never be front-page news.

It is a story of frustration with Canada's patchwork mental-health system, one in which care is not available until there is a crisis. It is the story of the devastated family of the person with schizophrenia.

It is a story of anger with a legal system that gives people with severe mental illness the right to refuse treatment, and affords families no right to help their loved ones get well.

The family has lost count of how many times Matt, who is only 20, has attempted suicide, how many times he has overdosed.

Matt will ingest any drug he can get his hands on, from NyQuil to ecstasy. When he does, the demons that haunt him recede into the shadows for a while.

Like many people with severe, untreated mental illness, Matt has an ever-lengthening criminal record, most of it related to shoplifting over-the-counter drugs at pharmacies and public intoxication.

He spends nearly as much time in prison as he does in hospital - essentially jailed for being ill.

Who could have imagined it would come to this?

At one time, Matt lived a comfortable middle-class existence in suburban Toronto. He was a star athlete, a gifted musician, an army cadet, a popular classmate. But things began to unravel in high school.

He became withdrawn. Smoked and drank and did drugs with a little more gusto than his peers. Began acting weird. Dropped out of school. At first, it was dismissed as the growing pains of adolescence, but his behaviour soon spiralled out of control.

Matt bounced around various group homes and court diversion programs. The stress and frustration were such that his parents' marriage almost collapsed.

Then the diagnosis came - schizophrenia.

"Finding an explanation for his behaviour was a relief," Steve says. After all, parents tend to blame themselves.

"But then you find out what it really means - a mind-altering disease destroying a person you love - and it's heartbreaking," Steve says.

Trying to get his son the care he needed was more heartbreaking still.

The wait to get Matt into a psychiatric bed in the region of Ontario where he lives was 12 weeks or more. He bounced from crisis to crisis. When there was a glimmer of hope and the young man was willing to be treated, care was not available.

After a suicide attempt, Matt was treated in the emergency room then sent home. Not because he didn't need help, but because all the hospital's psychiatric beds were full.

Matt has now deteriorated to the point where he is hospitalized against his will; he has been committed, or "formed" as they say in the jargon of the milieu.

But he can still refuse treatment and he can still wander away from hospital to shoplift and get high. "He has lost the capacity to make rational decisions, but he still has the legal right to make those decisions," Steve says.

He is exasperated by this paradox, as are many parents of adult children with severe mental illness.

"In the end, all I want is my son back," Steve says mournfully.

He has nothing but praise for the health professionals who have cared for his son. The nurses and doctors, he says, have been phenomenal. So are the volunteers and staff from the Canadian Mental Health Association.

"But their hands are tied by consent forms and legal nonsense," Steve says. "The Charter of Rights and the Mental Health Act give my son the right to be sick."

Vince Li, too, had the right to be sick, the right to be guided by psychotic visions, the right to refuse treatment. In that case, the tragic consequence was the senseless death of Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus.

Two more victims of untreated schizophrenia, of a mental-health system with screwed-up priorities.

But there are many more victims of untreated mental illness, of a profoundly flawed system.

Far from the headlines, they are dying deaths by a thousand cuts, deaths by a thousand pills, deaths by a thousand missed opportunities to treat.

Also see:

The mentally ill who break the law deserve 'all mercy and humanity'

Mentally ill family member? You don’t have to feel alone

For the first in a five-part series on life with a mentally ill family member, written by Fortune McLemore (pictured), click here.

Also see:

Strengthening Families Together

Lower Sackville Meeting: A Family Voice for Mental Health

A Family Voice for Mental Health is a group of family members who come together once a month to provide emotional support and practical help to each other in coping with the stress and problems encountered in dealing with family members affected by mental illness. Most members of our group have relatives diagnosed with schizophrenia but we welcome everyone who needs support in dealing with all other forms of mental illness.

Membership
Just come to the meetings. There are no fees, dues, or costs of any kind to join our group.

Location
Community Room at the Sobeys store, 752 Sackville Drive, Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. For a map, click here.

Time
Regular meeting times from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on the third Thursday in each month. Any change in the schedule is notified to members prior to the date of the meeting.

For more information, click here (downloads a PDF document).

Prisoners of their own worlds

Families need to be aware of schizophrenia as symptoms usually develop in teens

An article published in the May 27th edition of The Chronicle Herald:

By Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

Nigel Bart first had an inkling that something was different about him when on a trip to B.C. after high school graduation he tried to summon the wind.

His family had entered a sailboat race, but there was no wind that day.

"An urge in me thought that maybe if I prayed hard enough I could somehow make the wind blow and make our sailboat win the race," he says.

"So I closed my eyes and I started gesturing with my hands, kind of like making the wind blow, like conducting an orchestra. That was the first clue."

Bart, now 33 and working in Winnipeg, didn’t know anything about schizophrenia at the time. But looking back on events like this one about 15 years ago, there were subtle clues pointing to the onset of mental illness.

"Before a person has what we call a psychosis . . . people are going to have preliminary signs," says Chris Summerville, the interim CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada.

Some of the signs include: change in behaviour, change in sleep patterns, irritability, avoiding social activities, becoming reclusive, difficulty with studies and a change in appearance or hygiene.

"When a person does get a diagnosis of psychosis and schizophrenia, then people often say, ‘Well this is what I did see and I just thought it was adolescence and they were just going through a stressful time.’ "

But the teen years are exactly when the symptoms of schizophrenia can start to show up.

"It has often been called youth’s greatest disabler because with schizophrenia, along with all other major mental illnesses, its primary onset is during adolescence," Summerville says.

He says parents and people who work with adolescents should look for a cluster of symptoms over a period of time — not just somebody having a bad weekend.

Tammy Lambert, 25, started experiencing symptoms of what would later be diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder, which has components of both schizophrenia and mood disorders, when she was 14.

During manic highs she gets a sense of "heaven on Earth" and of prophecies. During periods of depression, a delusion of being under surveillance combines with the depression to make her feel like she’s a bad person and people are conspiring to kill her.

"One time I had a friend over and we were watching television and I got a message from the television," Lambert says, remembering one of her first episodes when she was about 15 years old.

"I said to him, ‘Can you please get out. I don’t want you here right now.’ I thought that he was part of a conspiracy and the message on the television was telling me he was part of the conspiracy. I kicked him out and then I barricaded my doors."

Lambert calls the onset of her symptoms "a gradual process" that culminated in several sleepless nights in a row, a foggy feeling, distorted images in her mind and messages from the television and newspaper.

That’s when she sought help and eventually got her diagnosis, which she says was partly a relief.

"It made me feel good because I actually finally understood what was happening to my mind," she says.

"But then it made me feel bad because nobody wants to accept the fact that they have a mental illness. It’s very stigmatizing. Especially for somebody in high school."

For Bart, it was the time just after high school, when he started studying science at the University of Winnipeg, that his symptoms really started to appear.

"I knew I was different from people," he says.

He began to repress natural urges: hunger, thirst, urination and even sexual urges. He started looking for signs from God or signals in people’s coughs or subtle gestures.

"It was like I was on automatic override," he says.

"I wasn’t making any deliberate conscious movement. I was acting basically all out of what I believed was some kind of spiritual intuition."

Bart would get on the bus in the morning and find himself still riding the bus late into the night after following signals all day.

Bart also felt relieved at hearing a diagnosis, finally "an answer to all of this madness," he says. After that came what he calls his "convalescence period," when he got much-needed support from treatment and his family.

He got a degree in fine arts and now works at Art Beat Studio, which incorporates art with a mental health recovery program.

Lambert is now working toward a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Manitoba and hopes to become an occupational therapist. She also does presentations now on her experiences.

"There really does have to be more education, more understanding of what mental illnesses are and what they entail," she says.

"There is still tons of discrimination."

Up to 70 per cent of people with a mental illness recover, says Summerville, in that they learn how to manage their illness and live rich, full lives.

The major hurdle that still must be overcome is the stigma attached to schizophrenia and mental illness, he says.

"Families need to be just as literate . . . about mental health and mental illness as they are about physical health and physical illness."

Photograph of Nigel Bart by John Woods, The Canadian Press.

Survey Shows Families More Optimistic on Treatment Outcomes in Schizophrenia (Europe)

New Survey Conveys Fundamental Shift in the Perceptions of Treatment Outcomes in Schizophrenia

For the full story from Schizophrenia.com, click here.

Carer Couples: when a partner has a mental illness

All In The Mind, a program of ABC Radio National (Australia) and hosted by Natasha Mitchell (photograph, right) aired the following story on September 15th:

Lover or carer? Partner or dependant? This week, when a partner is afflicted with a severe mental illness, how is the relationship redefined? Do they feel like the body and soul you first fell in love with? Two couples -- Lana and Paul, Gerard and Brendon -- share the trials and triumphs of confronting illness and prejudice together.

To listen to the story, click here (streaming audio).

To download the audio (best quality), click here (downloads a QuickTime mp3 file).

To visit the website for the story, which contains a large number of useful links, click here.

Many thanks to Marjorie W. for bringing this story to my attention.

Search for Schizophrenia's Roots Started at Home

Mark Moran writes in the July 6th issue of Psychiatric News:

A brother's concern for a sister with schizophrenia drew him into a research career whose fruits may eventually prevent many individuals from experiencing the ravages of this disease.

To read the full story about the life of E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., click here.

Photograph by Breton Littlehales.