Day 4 - Mental Health Week
My Day 4 post is going to be relatively short as I am quite busy today attending 'Pathways to Mental Health,' an awareness initiative presented by the City of Lloydminster. Over the past 3 days I have talked about my road to recovery and the struggles that I still face. Today I am going to talk about what you can do to support me and others struggling with mental health or addiction issues.
The single greatest way that the public can help us is by demanding governmental changes, both federal and provincial. Your local MP / MLA must know that you care about these issues and that you support change. Unfortunately this has not been the case for many years. The stigma surrounding mental health has left it as an area simply rolled in with other health initiatives and quickly left on the back burner. Our mental health system is at a crisis point. I have a friend this past week that attempted suicide. He was taken to the hospital and treated (pumped his stomach and stabilized). After a brief and negative conversation with a mental health worker he decided to sign the release and leave the hospital. The past couple days for him have been quite erratic however he has agreed to get help. Two days ago he agreed that the best way to ensure that he stays and gets the help he needs is to have a 30 day committal order. So this is what we have done. We have a court assigned arrest warrant to have this friend committed for evaluation and support. One would think that this is perfect, everything worked out. Not exactly, that was on Tuesday. It is now Thursday and there are still no mental health beds available and my friend is now considering not going. The order only lasts 72 hours so if no beds are available today, we will have to seek another court order. Although it is likely that we will be able to get him into care eventually, having him go voluntarily and willingly goes a long way in achieving results while he is there.
As a society, we have to make sure help is available immediately when needed or requested. The situation is even worse when it comes to addiction with addicts waiting 3 to 6 months for treatment. So next time you shake your head at that junkie sitting on the street begging for money, go look in the mirror. You are playing a part in that by allowing a system of apathy within our communities. That junkie most likely has mental health issues that never got addressed because of an overloaded system. Taking matters into his own hands he turned to drugs to cope. Soon he became and addict. Seeking help at this point is pointless as the wait times for addiction are 3 months compared to the week long wait times for mental health. Yes he made his situation worse but when someone struggling with mental health issues doesn't get the help they need they tailspin and do not think rationally. We have to get people access to immediate help if they want it. Their lives actually do depend on it.
So to do your part, please contact your local MP and MLA and demand change. Demand the change for your communities as a healthy citizens result in healthy communities. That 'junkie' is their by choice, he is there by circumstance. Circumstances that we as a community and society have created. He is a result of our lack of support and compassion. This has to change now as things will only get worse until it does change. It is time to #GETLOUD about mental health funding. You can do so by visiting the CMHA website;
http://www.cmha.ca/get-involved/getloud-for-increased-mental-health-funding/#.WQstQ9Lyu00
So please do your part in supporting mental health initiatives both in your communities and from your leaders. Recovery and rehabilitation is in your hands. Only you are able to speak for those suffering from mental health and addiction issues. No one is going to listen to them. They cry for help every day only to be chastised and ignored. If you do not want to see them on the corner begging for change, do something, get them some help.
