BC Schizophrenia Society Newsletter
In this newsletter:
Running to Support BCSS | BCSS President Responds to Vancouver Sun Article | BCSS Provincial AGM With Dr. Michael Krausz September 26 | Support and Education Events | Research looking for participants
Strengthening Families Together, a course for families of persons with a mental illness, is accepting registrations for sessions beginning in September and October across B.C. More details can be found at www.bcss.org/strengtheningfamilies or check out the lilst of upcoming and regularly schedules courses at www.bcss.org/tag/strengthening-families-together/
If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up for your own copy of future editions at www.elists.bcss.org
Running to Support BCSS
Jodi Diamond and Harpreet Chauhan are putting themselves through their paces as they prepare to run the Victoria Half Marathon on behalf of the BC Schizophrenia Society.
As mental health workers, Jodi and Harpreet are well aware how devastating schizophrenia and other mental illnesses can be for the ones afflicted and their families.
"We feel that this organization is a worthwhile cause," says Jodi of BCSS. "Unfortunately, mental illness does not get the same attention and research dollars as other illnesses and yet it affects many."
Although there currently is no cure for schizophrenia, Jodi emphasizes the importance of treatment and continuing research.
"The treatment success rate with antipsychotic medications can be high," Jodi states, and while it is not clearly understood why people get schizophrenia, she points out that "researchers have identified several of the key genes that when damaged increase the risk for developing schizophrenia."
These two friends and long-time running partners are hoping that their efforts on October 10 will help support BCSS's good work helping people with mental illness and their families.
You can support Jodi and Harpreet in their fundraising by making a donation here.
If you would like to dedicate a run or other occasion to raising funds for BCSS like Jodi and Harpreet's and would like help setting up your own 'giving page' to benefit the BC Schizophrenia Society provincial office,
please contact Sophia Kelly at onlinesupport@bcss.org.
BCSS Members and Supporters – Please Write the Vancouver Sun
Please see response from BCSS President Fred Dawe to last Thursday's Vancouver Sun article below. We would urge all BCSS members and supporters to write individual letters of response to this article. Misinterpretation of our mental health act and privacy legislation in BC continues to cause unnecessary suffering to people with serious mental illness and their families. Your voice can make a difference!
- Jane Duval, Executive Director, BC Schizophrenia Society
To: The Editor, Vancouver Sun sunletters@vancouversun.com
From: Fred Dawe - President, BC Schizophrenia Society
Re: Mentally ill man's suicide drives review of policies, Aug. 26
Tragedies involving people with mental illness and their families happen far too often. One reason for this is that many health professionals are mistaken about the law that actually governs their own practice.
In the Vancouver Sun's front page story, Health Authority spokeswoman Anna Marie D'Angelo states that "under the Mental Health Act the criterion for committal is whether the person poses a danger to himself or others.
This is incorrect. The BC Mental Health Act has wide criteria including risk for harms involving the social, family, vocational or financial life of a patient, as well as the patient's physical condition. The phrase "danger to self or others" - like many of our notions - is one we are all familiar with from watching American television. But it has nothing to do with the law in British Columbia.
It would appear that there needs to be a push for education about the BC Mental Health Act among BC Health Author
- Fred Dawe, President, BC Schizophrenia Society
BCSS Provincial Annual General Meeting
Dr. Michael Krausz will be speaking on "Addiction and Concurrent Disorders: What Psychiatry Do We Need?" at this year's Provincial AGM on September 26. A professor in the UBC Department of Psychiatry and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, as well as the LEEF Chair in Addiction Research, Dr. Krausz specializes in the co-morbidity of severe mental illness and addiction, especially psychosis and the use of psychotropic substances, and the effective treatment of such conditions.
Space is limited so pre-registration is recommended. Complete details can be found at www.bcss.org.
Studies Looking for Participants
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