Welcome to this month’s issue of family and supporter resources, produced by the BC Schizophrenia Society, in partnership with the BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions Information.

Ongoing Family Resources

• Reaching Families Calendar - support and education events for families.
• Family Support Groups - BC-wide listing of groups.
• Online Facilitated Family Support Groups - for family members - includes special groups for adult children, siblings, gay and lesbian family of choice.
• Kelty Resource Centre - BC-wide child/youth mental health and addictions info and referral, adult & kids eating disorders
• BC Schizophrenia Society - family resources and programs for schizophrenia & other illnesses
• The FORCE For Kids Mental Health - kids mental health
• Here to Help - General Mental Health and Addictions information with a family resources section.

 

If this e-resource has been forwarded to you by a friend, you can sign up for your own copy

Featured Resources

• Visions magazine
• Part two of the Globe and Mail’s Breakdown: Canada’s Mental Health Crisis special report includes two articles relating to family members.

Visions Magazine

[Read Visions online]

Published quarterly, Visions is a nationally award-winning journal which provides a forum for the voices of people living with a mental illness or substance use problem, their family and friends, and service providers in BC. Visions is:

• written by and for mental health consumers (people who have used mental health services) and those with substance use problems, mental health and addictions service providers, family, community members, and mental health and addictions leaders and decision-makers
• a resource for understanding mental health issues and learning ways to put leading mental health policies and programs into practice
• creates a place where many perspectives on mental health issues can be heard and therefore values and promotes contributions of all those who touch and are touched by mental health and addictions issues
• always trying to ask the question, What does it look like in real life? Why should this matter to me? How can I make a difference?

From its inception in 1997 to mid-2003, Visions was a publication produced by CMHA BC Division. Since the fall of 2003, Visions is now a mental health and addictions journal, and is published under the banner of the BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions Information, a collective of leading, provincial mental health and addictions agencies in BC, of which CMHA BC Division is a member.

Recent Editions:

Aboriginal People

Vol. 5, No. 1 (Summer 2008) | 32 pages | table of contents | pdf (1.9 Mb)

This issue of Visions stirs new ground like no other issue has. If you identify yourself as Aboriginal, First Nation, Inuit or Metis, you will likely find much that resonates with you. If you don’t indentify yourself that way, you will still learn a lot from this issue about the role of identity, culture, empowerment and community. Our amazing contributors have weaved mental well-being and wellness into a complex tapestry with spiritual, phsycial and social well-being, as well as the historical unjustices and current realities faced by many Aboriginal people including family violence and abuse, child neglect, trauma, discrimination, poverty, and homelessness.

Campuses

Vol. 4, No. 3 (Spring 2008) | 36 pages | table of contents | pdf (1.7 Mb)

This issue of Visions probes beyond the sunny surface of campus life to examine some of the underlying mental health and substance use issues facing post-secondary students, practitioners and administrators. Family members, students, counsellors and other campus professionals share insights into sources of student stress, substance use and the state of student mental health on various BC campuses. They also highlight outreach initiatives and innovative programs for students. You will also hear from students who struggled to make the grade, triumphed over adversity, and some of whom succeeded in creating change on their campus.

Medications

Vol. 4, No. 2 (Fall 2007) | 36 pages | table of contents | pdf ( 2.0 Mb)

Medications are often a double-edged sword. They can lift symptoms of mental illness or addiction so that people can feel well enough to do all the other hard work needed for recovery. But, they also present a host of complex challenges from side effects and interactions, to affordability and access. This issue of Visions aims to help consumers feel more like partners in their care and tries to present a helpful guide into the complex world of pharmaceutical treatment of mental or substance use disorders.

Housing and Homelessness

Vol. 4, No. 1 (Summer 2007) | 40 pages | table of contents | pdf (1.7 Mb)

This milestone issue of Visions navigates through the intricate web of housing and homelessness. You’ll come to realize just how deeply entrenched mental illness and addiction are in BC’s homelessness landscape. This issue is full of heartbreaking, frustrating and uplifting personal stories from people who have lived or are still living on the streets; and from the compassionate souls who are trying to help them. You’ll be inspired by profiles of innovative programs that are removing barriers to housing for those who need it most.

Globe and Mail Mental Health Feature

The Globe and Mail is publishing a Part II to their series, Breakdown: The Mental Health Crisis. The series starts Saturday Nov 22. The overall focus is on kids, seniors and mental health law.

Saturday, November 25: Children and mental illness, by Erin Anderssen and André Picard. - Focuses on problems parents face accessing services for their children. It profiles three children: A 12-year old from London, ON; A boy who received no services and killed himself; and a third child who has inadequate access to services.

Monday, November 26: A last resort for violent teens, by Dawn Walton Focuses on Alberta’s program, Intensive Rehabilitative Custody Supervision (IRCS). This program was put in place along with changes to Alberta’s Young Offenders Act.

Tuesday, November 27: Why medical-school graduates steer clear of psychiatry, by Carolyn Abraham Discusses stigma among professionals, HR shortages and wait times. CPA President Susan Abbey was interviewed for this article.

Wednesday, November 28: Growing old with bipolar disorder, by Justine Hunter Focus of this piece is mental illness and the elderly, looking beyond the much-discussed topic of dementia.

Thursday, November 29: Lonely lives in the institution, by Erin Anderssen Patients in hospitals and the dirth of visitors and why that occurs. Profiles either CAMH or the Royal Ottawa.

Friday, November 30: Forcing adults into treatment, by André Picard Focuses on the criminalization of mental illness and the frustration of parents with adult children getting them treatment. It talks a bit about community treatment orders, as well as mental health courts and about how jails are not good places for sick people.

The online articles will likely have a place for readers to comment. Please note that your online comments as family members or consumers are most welcome as the Globe is forwarding them to the government.

The series can be read at: Breakdown: The Mental Health Crisis