Change Something: The Lives of People with Mental Illness

I have to confess that I haven’t blogged much here on this site but when I got the challenge to “change something” I just had to come back!

There are many things in this world that need changing, and many that I feel quite strongly about.

However, one of the issues closest to my heart is mental health. Close to my heart, mind and spirit.

And the Canadian Mental Health Association here in the Vancouver/Burnaby area is the one that I think works the hardest and best at it.

Let me come right out and tell you that I’m part of their board of directors. But you see, I’m part of the board because it is such a great organization.

Mental health is one of the “invisible” disabilities, like deafness or chronic pain. On one level that means that you literally can’t see it. On another, it means that it’s often hard to understand. And human beings have a tendency to be afraid of things they don’t understand.

Take schizophrenia, for example. People who haven’t been affected by it, either themselves or through a friend or loved one, have a lot of misconceptions about it, for example that many people with schizophrenia are violent, or that schizophrenia makes you so “crazy” that you simply can’t work.

One of the things CMHA does is to work on dispelling these myths, on getting rid of the stigma.

It’s really mind-boggling when you think of it. At least 20% of the population has had a run-in with mental illness. That means that at least 40% of the population has been touched by it.

Yet it is never talked about.

How often do you hear someone casually mentioning that they haven’t been so well lately because they’re having a bout of depression? Or that they won’t be able to attend a party because their agoraphobia is acting up?

Never, i’d guess. Or very, very rarely.

Can you imagine what it’s like to suffer from these illnesses and having to hide them?

That needs to stop.

One of the ways CMHA is working on this is through an award-winning program, Mental Illness First Aid or MIFA.

MIFA is an exciting new course designed for people who want to gain a better understanding of mental illnesses and develop basic skills to deal with concerns arising from a mental illness.

MIFA is based on the premise of physical first aid – students learn an ABC framework for how to respond to someone experiencing mental distress. MIFA provides information on depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, suicide intervention. Just as with physical illnesses, in a mental illness, early intervention leads to faster recovery.

Today, people who suffer from mental illness are often in a perpetual state of crisis. So much of this is preventable – with better community care, destigmatization, more housing, less systemic poverty … and it is something that affects us all. Even if you have never been touched personally by mental illness, just think of the Downtown Eastside.

A significant percentage of the people who life in abject poverty are people who do not receive enough support to lead the productive lives that they CAN lead despite their illness. As someone who has worked for many years in the Downtown Eastside I speak from experience. Often it doesn’t take that much to provide this support.

CMHA responds to this crisis of mental illness in our community with a unique set of wide-ranging services - from prevention, education, and information services, right through to rehabilitation and community support to those recovering from illness.

This organization has a track record of developing many of the most innovative and effective new approaches available in the community today. Those of you who know me know that’s one of the reasons I’m part of it – when it comes to innovation, I’m right there.

Interested? Ok, I can’t help it, here is a pitch:

The CMHA has a one-hour breakfast event on October 3 where they will showcase their work. On top of a scrumptious meal at the Marriott Pinnacle, you’ll get tons of information, as well as first-hand stories from people who share how they’re coping and thriving despite mental illness. If you’d like to come, email me at moritherapy at shaw dot ca.

And if you can't make it to the breakfast, read these recovery stories here. Then you'll know what I'm talking about.