Welcome to this edition of the Educator Mental Health Resources newsletter. This newsletter is created by the BC Schizophrenia Society in partnership with BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions Information.

For a calendar of support and education events for family members and supporters, please visit www.familyevents.bcss.org

If this email was forwarded to you by someone else, you can sign up for your own copy here.
There are also companion newsletters for family members and supporters of persons with a mental illness, and for mental health professionals.

Featured Referral Resource

Looking to find referral or other resources for children and youth in BC? Contact the Kelty Resource Centre. A staff person is available by phone or email to help locate clinical resources and information on mental health and addictions.

Help for Family Members and Supporters

Relatives and friends of persons with a mental illness can find help, evidence based information and services at: www.families.bcss.org or at http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/skills/supporting-family

Who do I contact to refer a youth who might have psychosis for help?

Psychosis is a medical condition that needs to be treated as soon as possible. Early medical treatment has been shown to make a big difference in how quickly and completely people recover. Because of this, many health regions have specialized services for youth experiencing psychosis to provide immediate assertive treatment. Here is a listing of such services in BC. If your region isn’t listed, you can get help finding services in your region, contact the Kelty Resource Centre. which provides information and referral services relating to youth mental health and addictions for BC residents. For a teacher-oriented list of signs of psychosis, please see this link

ReachOut Post-Presentation Quiz Results

The ReachOut Psychosis tour’s goal is to make sure that youth experiencing psychosis, their friends and teachers recognize the signs of psychosis and know that prompt medical attention is necessary.

The tour uses a fun, interactive rock concert style presentation and prize driven quiz to achieve this goal. At the end of the ReachOut psychosis concert tour presentations in BC secondary schools, may of the youth audience members filled out a short quiz to test their knowledge of the information on how to spot and stop psychosis early.

Yukon College, who the ReachOut team visited on October 21st, 2008, scored the highest on the most important quiz question: Where would you go for help if you or someone else had psychosis?

The correct answer is to get medical help immediately, iether from a doctor, hospital, mental health team, mental health worker or psychiatrist. 98% of Yukon College students quizzed got it right!

Here are the results for all schools.

• 74% got the answer right on how many people (3%) experience psychosis in their lifetime (some told us statistically how many people in their school would get it, which is interesting, but wasn’t the question…)
• 95% could list at least one correct sign of psychosis
• 78% knew that a person who might have psychosis needs to see a doctor, mental health clinician or other medical professional right away.
• 94% enjoyed the presentation

Hope Vancouver EPI Program

Funded by Vancouver Coastal Health and Vancouver Community Mental Health Services, the Hope Vancouver Early Psychosis Intervention Program is a program for: youth living in Vancouver or Richmond, aged 13-30 and their families who are experiencing a first time problem with psychotic symptoms. We are located on 207-2250 Commercial Drive in Vancouver (map & directions). Anyone can make a referral for a youth living in Vancouver or Richmond British Columbia. Just call us at 604-225-2211

Rene Corbett, a Mental Health Educator/Clinician with the program is a member of the Medical Advisory Committee for the ReachOut Psychosis Concert Tour. “I think the ReachOut Psychosis tour is doing fabulous work, both for promoting early treatment and for reducing stigma.” ReachOut’s Medical Advisory Committee

Other early psychosis intervention programs are listed here

Youth In BC

• A chance for youth to have a live, one-on-one chat with a trained volunteer, or to get support via email.
• A unique and confidential outlet to share issues, get information and feel “heard”.
• A more anonymous, sometimes more comfortable option than traditional crisis telephone line services.
• A place to learn about different issues, and find help to deal with them.

Who is Youth In BC for?

• Youth who need a safe, respectful place to access support and information, or just someone to listen without judgment.
• Parents and/or professionals who are looking for topic-specific information and resources for various youth-related issues.

What can youth chat about?

• Anything they need to! People chat about lots of different issues: suicide, sexuality, depression and stress, relationship conflicts and much, much more.

More at http://youthinbc.com/

Facing Psychosis Video

This short video, made by and for youth and persons with psychosis gives an excellent summary of what to watch out for in this brain illness.