When looking at the relationship between society and mental illness there are many gaps, both in services available and in our general approach, that make successful treatment all the more difficult.
The staff at Mental Health and Addiction Services at Powell River General Hospital knows it could be doing more with more funding and programs. For example, staff members would like to see more education being delivered to students about mental illness to help young people recognize it in themselves and understand it in others. Early diagnosis is one of the most important elements for successful treatment, so the more awareness at a young age the better.
Mental illness is often the last area of health care to be paid attention, mental health staff believe, potentially due to the stigma that surrounds it. Funding for outpatient care was cut by government in 2003, for instance, which resulted in a lost position in Powell River, and has not gone up since, said manager Nora Koros.
“When people think about health care they don’t think about mental health care,” said Koros. “If we don’t think it affects us, if it’s something that the person’s caused themselves, if we have all those beliefs, then we can also forget about them in funding.”
Another gap for those with mental illness is affordable housing. Many people living with mental illness are not well enough to work and are on disability income from the government. Some are homeless, others struggle with addiction and because of the nature of their illness many are not fit for what affordable housing is available.
Iris Housing Society in Powell River is working toward reducing that gap by providing low-income housing specifically for those with mental illness. For people with mental illness having stable, safe housing is an essential step to getting better, or at least improving quality of life. Affordable housing is hard to find in Powell River but the goal of the society is to purchase property so that it will be eligible for grants to construct a 15- to 20-unit apartment building or townhouse complex.
“Your heart goes out to people who struggle,” said Diane McKendrick, society chair. “It’s just really hard for them to be accepted, to be comfortable in our community sometimes. And they’re great people.”
Dr. Xavier Amador is a renowned psychologist who is giving a presentation at Max Cameron Theatre on Friday, February 24. He said the biggest tragedy isn’t necessarily mental illness itself, it’s that people don’t get treatment for it. Understanding the reasons for this is in itself a gap in how people approach mental illness.
It’s a complicated situation because when people don’t seek help for mental illness, or go off their medications, or refuse to acknowledge they are even ill, they can be exhibiting a symptom of the illness itself.
In his book I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help! Amador frames it like this: Imagine you are told that you don’t actually live where you live. You would say that that’s ridiculous. You know where you live. But now the police have a restraining order telling you to stay away from where you know you live. And your family is telling you you don’t live there and that you need to go on medication. But it’s ridiculous because, after all, you know you live there.
It’s a simple analogy but makes an important point: delusions are not self-deceptions or denial. For the person experiencing them, they are reality. This relates primarily to schizophrenia but those with bipolar disorder or other mental illness can also be unaware that they are sick. Called anosognosia, it is a genuine inability of a person with a disability to recognize that disability.
“When someone suggests they should be in treatment, it not only doesn’t make sense, it’s often times insulting,” said Amador. “What you’re experiencing about that person is actually a consequence of the illness, it’s not a consequence of that person’s character, values or personality.”
What Amador will speak about at his event in Powell River is the ways in which families can work with loved ones who are not aware of their mental illness and are refusing to seek help or take medication. He believes that with a better understanding of the nature of mental illness and an approach that is more respectful toward those suffering with it, progress can be made. He has a system for doing this called Listen Empathize Agree Partner (LEAP) which he will be explaining at the talk.
For more information on Amador’s talk readers can contact Danita Senf at [email protected] or call 604.485.8266.
This is the final installment of a three-part series of articles about mental illness.
