Our Voice - eNewsletter of the Capital Health Addictions and Mental Health Program - June 2013

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To download the entire eNewsletter, please click here.

Also see:

Capital Health Addictions and Mental Health Program

Community Mental Health Referral Form

OurHealthyMinds.com

Talking therapies: A four-year plan of action (2011)

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Also see:

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies

No Health Without Mental Health: A Cross-Government Mental Health Outcomes Strategy for People of All Ages


I thank Dr. Rudolf Uher for bringing this program to my attention.

Cannabis & Psychosis: Exploring the Link

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Cannabis & Psychosis: Exploring the Link

Healthy Minds Cooperative Newsletter - June 2013

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Healthy Minds Cooperative

Mental Health & Criminal Justice

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2013 Clinical Neurosciences Conference - Psychosis

Erin Hawkes – My Psychosis and its Treatment

Source: http://www.bcss.org/recordings-project/2013-clinical-neurosciences-recordings/erin-hawkes-die-girl-die-my-psychosis-and-its-treatment/     Also see:   When Quietness Came: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey With Schizophrenia 2013 Clinical Neurosciences Recordings

Whispers - A collection of poems by Brian Malay

Published by Gaspereau Press, Whispers is a collection of poems written between 2000 and 2009 by Brian Malay (1983-2010).

Compiled and edited after his death, Whispers provides insight into the joy of what it means to be fully alive and seeking answers to everyday mysteries, as well as the pain and sorrow of Brian’s truly exceptional nature.

From his early years until the last days of his life, Brian expressed himself through his writing. He was an imaginative free thinker whose poetry reflects a keen sense of his own world and the world about him.

Although Brian lived with schizophrenia, his diagnosis did not disable him; conversely, he worked harder at his writing and discovered it to be a wonderful expression of his creativity. Ultimately, poetry simply flowed from him, thus making him a true master of the written word.

Brian’s mother, Cindy Crowell, is kindly donating proceeds from the sales of Whispers to the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia.

To place an order for Whispers, please mail a $20.00 cheque made out to the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia, along with the address to which the book should be shipped, to:

Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia
Room B23, E.C. Purdy Building
P.O. Box 1004, Station Main
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
B2Y 3Z9

Orders with payment by credit card are also accepted. Please call the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia at (902) 465-2601 or 1-800-465-2601 (toll-free in Nova Scotia).


Portrait of Brian Malay by Jared Malay. Please click on the image to magnify it.

Sale on the novel: "Playing the Genetic Lottery"

An email received by the SSNS today from Terri Morgan, author of the novel Playing the Genetic Lottery:

May is Mental Health Awareness month in the United States, and as an author of a novel about schizophrenia and an advocate for reducing the stigmas surrounding mental health issues, I've offering a special on my novel. Would you please share this information with your members? I think they would appreciate hearing about this great discount on a book that validates many of their experiences.

Thanks, Terri

As you know, understanding mental illness is one of the big keys to reducing the stigmas that surround it. The stigmas that prevent people from talking about mental illness, and even worse, prevent people from seeking help when they need it. One out of every four people will be affected by mental health issues at one point in their lifetime.

In my mind, that makes it even more urgent to educate people about mental illnesses and dispel many of the myths and misconceptions surrounding it.

As the author of a novel about schizophrenia, I worked hard to weave in accurate information about mental illness and the impact it has on families into my book in an effort to raise compassion for people who are living with mental illness and reduce some of the stigmas.

That's why I'm offering a special price to people who download my novel, Playing the Genetic Lottery, during the month of May in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States. From May 1-31, people can download my book, which is a fictional memoir about a woman who grew up with two parents living with mental illness, for just CDN $1.01. To take advantage of this special, please click here.

For more information about the novel, please check out my website at terrimorgan.net.

Why reduce the price by 2/3rds? Because reducing the stigmas, to me, is more important than making a few extra dollars on each sale.

Also see:

Book Review by Ashley Smith

Playing the Genetic Lottery | Psych Central

A Housing Strategy For Nova Scotia

From a May 6th social media release by the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services:

More Nova Scotians will find affordable housing that meets their needs as part of the province's first long-term housing strategy. Premier Darrell Dexter and Community Services Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse unveiled the strategy today, May 6, during a visit to the North Woodside Community Centre in Dartmouth.

Quotes

"Our homes, and the communities they are part of, shape nearly every aspect of our lives -- health, education, success in the workplace, even the security of our retirement and dignity in old age. Yet many working families cannot afford rent, let alone a mortgage, and many seniors and people with disabilities lack good housing options."

Premier Darrell Dexter

"Our strategy will build vibrant communities, revitalize existing neighbourhoods, and offer affordable new housing choices to Nova Scotia families."

Premier Darrell Dexter

"Few things are as important as having a good, affordable home that meets a person's unique needs. Through collaboration, we have developed a strategy that sets out a new direction for housing -- one that stresses affordability, partnership and community-building. The right housing choices can mean safer, more sustainable, and more vibrant communities."

Denise Peterson-Rafuse, Minister of Community Services

"Shelter Nova Scotia is pleased to see a collaborative strategy that espouses a housing first model. We have seen first-hand the benefits this model has had on the men and women we serve."

Don Spicer, executive director of Shelter Nova Scotia

"It is a challenge but we must build more housing that people can afford. We must not continue to equate big with better when we discuss housing options. This strategy is a bold and innovative roadmap in that direction."

Paul Pettipas, president of the Nova Scotia Home Builders' Association

"I am so grateful to own a home that my children grew up in. I believe this is something we all wish for. It is because of the work that community and private organizations do that I was able to own my own home while my children were young enough to live there. Programs that give more Nova Scotians a chance at affordable home ownership or rent is good news."

Karen Cole, a single mother who purchased her home through Habitat for Humanity

Quick Facts

• The strategy represents a fundamental shift in the province's approach to affordable housing.

• Over the next 10 years, the development of affordable housing and affordable home ownership will substantially increase and will focus on diverse communities with different housing and tenure types, income levels and family composition.

• $500 million over 10 years will go towards supporting new and enhanced affordable housing projects and programs.

• The strategy was built on themes that emerged from provincewide public consultations held in 2012 with more than 500 Nova Scotians, including non-profit and community organizations engaged in housing issues, housing developers, governments, and interested Nova Scotians.

• The strategy will restructure the Nova Scotia Housing Development Corporation and all housing staff in Community Services as Housing Nova Scotia.

• Among the programs that Housing Nova Scotia is considering are down payment assistance, lease-to-own opportunities, a graduate home ownership program, and retrofit programs

Also see:

Download the strategy (PDF)

Download a plain text version (PDF)

Learn more about the consultation process

Information, pictures and videos from the launch event

5th Annual Road to Recovery Walk - Halifax, Bridgewater, and New Glasgow

Held on Saturday, May 4th, 2013

In Halifax, Bridgewater, and New Glasgow

Supporting Families as Partners in Mental Health Care

Walking Together to Raise Awareness

For further information visit:

www.RoadToRecoveryWalk.ssns.ca

To make a donation in support of the 5th Annual Road to Recovery Walk, please click here.

To read an article about the Walk posted online by The Chronicle Herald, please click here.

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In Partnership With

 Sponsors

Photographs by Stephen Ayer.

CMHA Nova Scotia Division - Newsletter - May 2013

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CMHA Nova Scotia Division

Fact Sheet: Maintaining Your Mental Health

Searchlyte Research Studies: Participants Needed

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Nova Scotia Early Psychosis Program

Dr. Heather Milliken

Healthy Minds Cooperative Newsletter - May 2013

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Healthy Minds Cooperative

Demystifying the Mental Disorder Defence - with Professor Archie Kaiser

A presentation made on April 17th, 2013, at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University.

From this website:

People with mental health problems face persistent stigmas; when they come into conflict with the law, they often face minor charges and tend not to fare well in our justice system. Less frequently and only in the most serious cases, some accused persons choose the highly-publicized-but-not-well-understood “mental disorder defence.”

In this lecture, we’ll talk about the difficulties people with mental health problems face in our justice system and take a detailed look at the mental disorder defence. What is it? When can it be used? How does it work? And if successful, what does it mean for the accused?

To download Professor Kaiser's PowerPoint Slides, please click here.

Heart to Heartwood

An article published in today's edition of The Coast:

Part of the Mayworks Festival, Heartwood is a play that takes an honest look at one woman’s experience with schizophrenia.

By Kate Watson

The Doppler Effect’s Annie Valentina (left) and actor-writer Laura Burke (right).

It's a grey, damp Saturday in Halifax, and Theatre Nova Scotia's Living Room space on Agricola appears hushed and dark as well. Inside, Annie Valentina and Laura Burke have put in a long day of rehearsal on Burke's one-woman show Heartwood, and they're winding down.

Burke, a pig-tailed blonde sporting graceful feathered earrings and casual clothes in muted shades of grey and brown, is a playwright, actor, spoken word artist and soon-to-be licensed drama therapist. She has also been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Heartwood, which opens April 29 at The Bus Stop Theatre as part of the Mayworks Festival, is the story of Burke's journey from her diagnosis almost eight years ago, when she was a theatre student at Concordia University, through some very dark days of depression and psychosis to her eventual recovery and ongoing life with the disorder.

"There's no doubt that schizophrenia totally changed the trajectory of my life," says Burke. "I was at a point in my life where I was just beginning to feel like I was starting to be a real actor. Then I lost my ability to feel, to remember words, to be on a cognitive emotional level. I had to let go of the expected trajectory."

At first, doctors struggled to find exactly what was ailing Burke, and she describes the eventual diagnosis of schizophrenia as being both "a huge relief" in that she finally had an answer and "a real downer" because she felt saddled with a stigmatizing label.

Over the course of her recovery, challenging that stigma became very important to Burke, and she discovered that using creative means such as poetry and drama offered an effective way to do that. "I'm hoping that by writing about my experience with schizophrenia and sharing it with others, I'll be able to help people to reduce their own shame about it. I want to normalize it.

"It can be scary how people want you to be either a victim or a hero," she says. "I'm just a human wanting to be fully human."

The original version of Heartwood was written as Burke's masters' thesis, and Valentina, who is artistic producer with Halifax theatre company The Doppler Effect, became interested in the project when she directed a workshop version of it in 2012. That version evolved, with the help of Burke and local theatre artist Mary-Colin Chisholm, into a piece that was presented at the Douglas Psychiatric Institute in Montreal and at a psychosis-themed conference in Ottawa.

"There were no plans for production of it as a play at first, but I fell in love with the script and the concepts in it," recalls Valentina. Michael McPhee, creative director of The Doppler Effect, "and I both felt it was a really good project to take to the next theatrical level. It offers a gorgeous theatrical experience. The poetry of the writing and the imagery in it are simply gorgeous."

One of the most arresting recurring images in Heartwood is a tree which grows out of Burke's rib cage, a tree that stands for the challenges we all face and the burdens we all bear. "The tree represents something broader than mental illness," explains Burke. "Our past and suffering grows out of us and takes over. We often try to prune it back, but I think we just have to learn to grow with it and build something out of it."

Burke smiles and pulls a brilliant red coat around her shoulders. As she steps out onto the quiet street, a ray of sunshine bursts through the cold, grey sky.

Photograph by Ashley Marie Pike

We Shall not Cease from Exploration: Narratives from the Hyde Inquiry about Mental Health and Criminal Justice

From this website:

The 34th Annual Horace E. Read Memorial Lecture

Introductions by Dean Kim Brooks and Prof. Sheila Wildeman, both from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. This lecture from Judge Anne Derrick (Nova Scotia Provincial Court) discusses the Hyde Inquiry and its implications.




Also see:

Hyde Inquiry

Report of the Fatality Inquiry into the Death of Howard Hyde

"We Shall Not Cease From Exploration": Narratives from the Hyde Inquiry about Mental Health and Criminal Justice

Personal Directives - Nova Scotia

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Personal Directives

Healthy Minds Cooperative Newsletter - April 2013

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Healthy Minds Cooperative

Nipping it in the bud: Can Psychiatrists Prevent Mental Illness?

Held March 27th, 2013

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To download a PDF version of the above flyer, please click here.

Video of the debate will be posted at a later date and will be viewable by clicking here.

Also see:

https://blogs.dal.ca/psychdebates/

The ultra-high risk concept - a review

Crisis line handles mental health issues

An article published in the February 26th edition of The Chronicle Herald:

By Michael Gorman, Truro Bureau

TRURO — Nova Scotians dealing with mental health concerns can now call a single number at any time to get help.

The Mental Health Crisis Line can be reached by calling 1-888-429-8167, Health and Wellness Minister David Wilson [pictured] announced Tuesday.

“Having … a number that anybody in Nova Scotia can call, I think will be positive,” he said.

The number connects callers to licensed clinicians with expertise in social work, nursing or occupational therapy.

Being able to call the number from anywhere in the province will help those with mental illness, including those living in isolated areas, get help, the minister said.

Geoff Alcock agreed.

Recalling his own experiences with mental illness, the patients’ rights adviser and peer support specialists said such an option would have been helpful.

“The isolation of mental illness is bad enough when within reach of a psychiatric facility,” said Alcock. “In the rural areas, it’s a huge burden to bear.”

Often friends and family aren’t sure what to do or who they can call in times of need, he said.

In his own case, Alcock said “the problem was that there was no assistance or help whatsoever for my wife.”

“She had absolutely no idea as to what to do or who to turn to in the event of me experiencing a suicidal crisis. She was very much left in a lurch.”

Having one number that anyone can call should increase awareness while making sure the people who need help receive it, Alcock said.

The province is putting $190,000 into the line, which will hire two more full-time people, bringing the total to 11. Wilson said he feels confident the increased staff will be able to meet the demands of the entire province.

“We’ll keep evaluating it. If down the road we need to (re-examine) this and potentially look at supporting it more, we’ll do that.”

The province will now focus on promoting awareness of the crisis line, said Wilson. He said it compliments the 211 system, which provide’s access to social services, and the 811 system, which sees about 100,000 people calling it each year to speak with a nurse.

(mgorman@herald.ca)

Also see:

Access to Mental Health Services now Available Province-wide


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Healthy Minds Cooperative Newsletter - March 2013

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Healthy Minds Cooperative

Elyn Saks: A tale of mental illness -- from the inside

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Elyn Saks

The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness

Let's talk about punishing mentally ill

A column from today's edition of the Winnipeg Free Press:

Mental health has certainly become the story of the month, albeit for completely different reasons.

By Dan Lett (pictured)

February is Let's Talk month, an initiative of Bell Canada to create greater awareness of mental-health issues. The campaign culminates Tuesday with national Let's Talk day.

Bell's work has been supported by the seven Canadian National Hockey League teams, which together are hosting events to demystify mental illness. The Winnipeg Jets have created Project 11, a campaign to honour former Manitoba Moose fan favourite Rick Rypien, who took his own life in August 2011 after battling depression.

Perhaps, through these gestures, the country will understand mental illness is a medical condition. It's not bad attitude, a lack of character or a sign of weakness. And its victims are just that. Victims.

One can only imagine how incredibly pleased the folks behind these campaigns were last week when, just days before national Let's Talk day, Ottawa put on a full-court press to convince Canadians mental health is a crime that requires greater punishment.

In Vancouver last Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced legislation to create a new high-risk designation for some people found not criminally responsible (NCR) for a crime.

High-risk subjects would spend at least three years in a mental hospital before being assessed for release.

As a tool for improving public safety, is the new law an upgrade from the current one? Current law requires anyone found NCR to be held in a secure facility where their illness is treated. They are subject to annual psychiatric assessments. An independent review board in each province is responsible for deciding when, or if, someone has recovered to the point where they can be released, the conditions for that release and when it should be revoked for failing to live up to those conditions.

It is a system that has worked remarkably well. The use of a NCR finding is quite rare. Even so, the most recent statistics show fewer than three per cent of all people declared NCR of a crime reoffend after their release. It also deserves to be said NCR provisions do not provide sanctuary for all those who author violence and mayhem. NCR would never apply, for example, to the Bernardos or the Olsons or the Picktons of the world. It is not a convenient excuse for drunks, drug addicts or your garden-variety sociopath.

NCR is a precise medical finding an accused person could not, because of a mental illness, form the intent to commit a crime. That they did not really know what they were doing, or what they were doing was wrong. It is the justice system's way of acknowledging some people are so sick, they should not be punished as criminals.

Why change the law? Despite the rarity of NCR findings and recidivism, it is a hot-button, visceral issue for many Canadians.

NCR findings usually follow gruesome, horrifically violent crimes. The fact those found NCR are not convicted of a crime and not sent to prison sparks anger and outrage among what is no doubt a significant segment of the population.

They howl about a lack of justice, the laxness of the punishment or the brevity of hospital incarceration. Unfortunately, with each of these complaints, we are demonstrating a profound ignorance about the nature of mental illness.

Proponents of this new NCR law may think a line can be drawn between those who suffer in silence or hurt themselves as a result of mental illness and those who hurt others.

The inconvenient truth is no such line can be drawn; it is the same illness and requires the same treatment.

Our inability to accept this truth manifests primarily in a desperate shortage of treatment options. It is what puts thousands of mentally ill Canadians in prison. It is what forces some of the mentally ill to carry their burdens alone until, lamentably, they can no longer withstand the strain, and hurt themselves or someone else. The new law not only ignores this truth, it fortifies our ignorance.

The new law says public safety must now be the first concern in any decision to release someone found NCR. That suggests we were routinely releasing people who were a threat to the public out of some misguided compassion. We did not, and the insinuation is profoundly, intellectually dishonest.

There are those who will argue public safety must always trump compassion for the mentally ill. However, it is only through a delicate balancing act -- the careful consideration of the nuances of each individual case involving a NCR finding -- that we get the opportunity to demonstrate our maturity and humanity. Consider that despite the complexities of the mental illness, we have a very nearly perfect record in ensuring public safety. Offering to "fix" something with that record of success is a cynical triumph of public relations over responsible governing.

So, let's talk about mental illness. Let's get it out into the open and challenge our preconceptions.

But as we're doing that, let's ensure we're not talking out of both sides of our mouths.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 11, 2013 A8

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Mental Health Community Expresses Concern with Proposed NCRMD Changes

A press release issued today by some of Canada's mental health organizations:

Changes must consider the unique needs of people with mental illness

WINNIPEG, Feb. 8, 2013 /CNW/ - Today, the Government of Canada tabled a Bill proposing changes to the Not Criminally Responsible on account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD) provisions of the Criminal Code. The Bill proposes, amongst other things, that annual reviews for individuals deemed NCRMD of a violent crime can be pushed to every three years and that "high risk" NCRMD accused cannot be considered for release by a Review Board until their designation is revoked by a court.

Given the significance of passing such changes, Canada's mental health community has come together to form a working alliance in an effort to strengthen their voice on this critical matter - which is of vital importance to the mental health community and the one in five Canadians with mental illness.

The alliance strongly believes it has the knowledge, resources and tools that will allow the Government to move ahead with NCRMD changes that will take into account the need to protect the public from dangerous persons, while addressing the therapeutic needs of these mentally disordered offenders so as to mitigate risk and promote recovery.

"The Government of Canada has made progress in enhancing public understanding of mental health and mental illness with important initiatives such as the development of the Mental Health Commission. However, these proposed changes are inconsistent with its work to-date," said Chris Summerville, Alliance Facilitator and Chief Executive Officer, Schizophrenia Society of Canada. "These changes will unnecessarily heighten the public's fears, increase negative stigma around mental illness and ultimately undermine the reintegration of NCRMD individuals without increasing public safety."

In Canada's most populated province, Ontario, only .001% of individuals charged with Criminal Code violations were adjudicated NCRMD. Recidivism rates for NCRMD individuals range from 2.5 to 7.5%. These numbers are far lower than that of federal offenders in the regular justice system, at a rate of 41 to 44%. And despite what Canadians are lead to believe, the seriousness of the crime committed does not equate to the likelihood for the offender to reoffend or even his/her ability to improve his/her mental health state and live a normal, healthy life.

The alliance recognizes that the government's review of the mental disorder provisions of the Criminal Code is important to many Canadians, and it also recognizes the fact that the public has legitimate reasons to be concerned about safety, however the group is working together to ensure that this public policy is informed by the latest evidence based knowledge.

The working alliance has requested a meeting with the Minister of Justice to discuss theses proposed changes. Implementing such legislation cannot be in the best interest of Canadians without consulting and working with the mental health community. Canadians want a working mental health system and not an out-dated approach.

SOURCE: Schizophrenia Society of Canada

For further information:

Chris Summerville
Alliance Facilitator and Chief Executive Officer, Schizophrenia Society of Canada
Office: (204) 786-1616
Mobile: (204) 223-9158
Email: chris@schizophrenia.ca

or

Angela Cerovic
Hill+Knowlton
Office: (613) 786-9923
Mobile: (613) 371-9644
Email: angela.cerovic@hkstrategies.ca

Healthy Minds Cooperative Newsletter - February 2013

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Healthy Minds Cooperative

Schizophrenia is not a progressive brain disease

A December 4, 2012, posting by the Nova Scotia Early Psychosis Program:

Young people who experience a first episode of psychosis often receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Historically there has been the view that schizophrenia is a progressive, deteriorating condition and many clinicians were taught that point of view in their training.

When the field of Early Psychosis began to develop in the 1990s, a major theme was to discard the pessimistic attitude that clinicians held toward the possibility of significant recovery in psychotic disorders and replace it with a more balanced positive approach. The specialized Early Psychosis services that are now widely available are based on this attitude of realistic optimism.

As well, people with lived experience of psychosis, and their families, have increasingly insisted and demonstrated that recovery in schizophrenia is a realistic and attainable goal.

Yet studies of brain structure and function continue to produce data suggesting that there may be progressive changes associated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

In an article published in the Schizophrenia Bulletin journal in November 2012, Dr. Robert Zipursky (pictured) a leader in psychosis reseach in Canada, along with eminent colleagues in the UK, reviews the current evidence related to the question of whether or not a diagnosis of Schizophrenia indicates the person has a progress brain disease.

The article reviews all the recent evidence from brain scans, as well as other sources of data, and concludes that “schizophrenia is not a malignant disease that inevitably deteriorates over time, but one from which most people can achieve a significant degree of recovery”.

The authors strongly urge clinicians to provide young people and their families with this up-to-date information so that the old myths regarding negative outcomes for people receiving a diagnosis of schizophrenia can be laid to rest.

For a free copy of the full article click here.

Flawed reasoning

A letter to the editor published in today's edition of The Chronicle Herald:

There is a flaw in John Roswell’s reasoning when he writes (Jan. 17), “I believe that most people who have experienced psychosis would agree with me that people should be held responsible for their criminal acts, no matter what their state of mind was when they committed the crime.”

It is the accused who ultimately determines whether or not to proceed with a defence of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. Therefore, if the accused, once found fit to stand trial, believes that psychosis, for example, is the reason they should be found not criminally responsible, they will instruct their defence counsel to present this argument in court.

With regard to better access to mental health services, many people experiencing psychosis have lost contact with reality to such an extent that they do not believe they are ill. Therefore, they do not seek treatment for their mental disorder, despite the efforts of family and friends to assist them. This is one reason why the Nova Scotia legislature passed the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act in December 2005.

Stephen W. Ayer, Executive Director, Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia

Free voice mail service now available in Halifax & Dartmouth

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Private Free Voice Mail

Red Bear Healing Home Society

www.facebook.com/RedBearHealingHome

National standard for psychological health and safety in Canadian workplaces

To download the standard, please click here.


Also see:

Mental Health Commission of Canada

Schizophrenia Infographic from Rethink Mental Illness

To download a printable PDF version of this image, please click here.

Also see:

Rethink Mental Illness

Please help the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia continue to make a difference

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To download a PDF version of the above letter, please click here.

The Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia is featured in The Coast’s "Give Guide 2012"

To read the article, please click here. To view the entire Give Guide 2012, please click here.

To make an online donation to the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia (SSNS), please click here. Tax receipts are immediately issued by email. Online contributions can be made using Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Interac, or PayPal, and there is also an option for monthly giving.

To donate by telephone using Visa or MasterCard, please contact the SSNS at (902) 465-2601 or 1-800-465-2601. You can also mail your donations to the SSNS at the address provided below. In order that your tax receipt can be provided to you, please include your mailing or email address with your contribution.

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

Image courtesy of The Coast.

We are broken. We need to fix this.

Initial posting credit.

211 Nova Scotia - Launching February 2013

A message from to all non-profit groups in Nova Scotia:

In Nova Scotia, a wide variety of human, social and health related services are offered by local community groups, non-profit agencies and government departments. Finding the right service at the right time though, can be a real challenge.

Beginning next February, a “211” service will provide Nova Scotians with a free, confidential information and referral program for the thousands of these services provided across the province. It will be available throughout the province, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by simply dialling “2-1-1” to speak to a helpful staff member, or by searching our on line database, which will be up and running when 211 launches.

To help Nova Scotians in every community and make good use of your services and programs, we need complete and accurate information. We want to ensure all services provided by community groups have been included for each and every community in Nova Scotia. 211 Nova Scotia is inviting all non-profit providers of human, social and health related services in communities throughout the province to contact us to confirm that the 211 database has the right information about your service. We are a non-profit association – there is no cost to any organization to have information included in our database. You can reach our team members by calling 902-466-5721 or emailing info@ns.211.ca. We welcome inquiries from the general public as well. Information about 211 is available on our website at www.ns.211.ca. This service is supported by the Province of Nova Scotia and the United Way.

Missed point of talk

A letter to the editor posted online today by SouthShoreNow.ca:

I wanted to acknowledge South Shore Now for reporting on an event held several weeks back — the AGM of the South Shore District Health Authority. At this event, I spoke about issues very close to my heart, and engaged in a lively discussion with some very caring and intelligent health-care workers and citizens.

Around the same time, I was asked to speak to a journalism class taught by a friend of mine at the Dartmouth Nova Scotia Community College. I was asked to speak on the representation of mental illness in the media. For this talk, I have chosen to highlight your article, entitled “Mental health advocate calls for collaborative approach to wellness.”

In this article by Keith Corcoran, the credibility of the speaker (myself) is challenged from the very top of the article by the rather sensationalist and jarring placement of the first line, which refers to my contemplation of suicide as a preteen. If such a detail needs to be mentioned (which, given the context of the talk I gave, it doesn’t) it could be somehow contextualized, or even placed further down in the article. It also refers to my experience with schizophrenia in terms that are not the current way to define a person who has been given said diagnosis.

Mr. Corcoran decided to refer to me as a “schizophrenic with a history of anorexia, anxiety and depression.” Unlike the other experiences, the schizophrenia piece of my life was not delegated to my history, but was instead how I was principally defined. I am an artist, a registered counsellor and psychotherapist intern, a public speaker and a person with a lived experience of schizophrenia — not a “schizophrenic.”

Indeed, my mental illness was the gateway to my understanding the mental health system from the inside, and was the reason I decided to become a clinician myself, but it was not the point of my talk at the AGM that night. The point of my talk was to help clinicians to remember why they got into the helping profession in the first place, to give my humble perspective, and to think about some directions we might take to keep ourselves in touch with why we continue to choose to help others.

It was essentially about mindfulness for mental health professionals. And although I made a provocative joke in my speech hinging on a concept that was omitted from this article, I would be careful in the future about the paraphrasing of critical statements about persons’ experiences with mental health care.

By missing the point of my talk, and by defining me as an illness first, person second, you have not only hurt me, but have hurt all of the other people who fight against the stigma of mental illness every day in your area. And for those who are already prejudiced about those who experience mental illness, well, you have given them one more juicy tidbit to gossip about.

LAURA BURKE

Halifax