Most parents worry when their children begin driving. They warn teens about the risks, and urge them to take care. That鈥檚 reasonable.
In 2011, despite that care and concern, 291 British Columbians of all ages died in car crashes.
In that same year, 526 people took their own lives in the province 鈥� 80 per cent more than those killed in car crashes.
Road crashes don鈥檛 come close to taking the toll of mental illness and problem substance use. Why don鈥檛 we, as a society, urge parents to have serious talks with their children about those risks?
Stigma, in part. No one tells cancer patients or those waiting for hip replacements to buck up and 鈥渢hink good thoughts鈥� to wish their infirmities away. But people with mental illness routinely face prejudice and a dismissive attitude that suggests they aren鈥檛 really sick.
Public policy reflects our individual attitudes. People who have an obvious illness or physical challenge tend to get help. At the least, emergency rooms are there to provide urgent care.
Those with a mental illness and substance-use issues face a much tougher reality.
Joshua Beharry wrote about his experiences in the 91原创 Sun recently. In 2009, at 22, he went to an emergency ward because months of depression had left him increasingly suicidal. He wondered if he should be admitted to a psychiatric ward for treatment.
鈥淚 spoke to an emergency room doctor and a psychiatric nurse,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭hey asked if I had a plan to kill myself.鈥� People are only admitted if they have a specific plan to take their own lives, he learned.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have a plan so I went home,鈥� Beharry recalled.
And a month later, he tried to kill himself.
The ER staff aren鈥檛 at fault. They send people away because there are no beds or treatment spaces.
The community social-services sector plays a large role in addressing mental illness and substance abuse. We provide supports, counselling and treatment, to help people manage their illnesses, just like others facing health challenges. We work with families and communities, so they can better handle the challenge of a parent or child facing a mental illness or substance abuse.
Every day, we turn people away who need help, or place them on long wait lists. Budget freezes and cuts and a lack of integrated responses have created a crisis.
That鈥檚 tragic. Illnesses that aren鈥檛 treated or managed frequently worsen. As conditions worsen, people dealing with mental illness or substance use can end up in increasingly perilous positions 鈥� on the streets, estranged from family and friends, unemployed, in jail or dead. (In 2011, the official who oversees the federal penitentiary system estimated 36 per cent of male inmates and half of women prisoners have some form of mental illness.) Could access to services and treatment, in a timely manner, slash prison populations?
The cost to us all is enormous. Estimates vary, but a 2010 study estimated the cost to the economy simply due to lost work days was $50 billion a year. Add the damage to families, the costs of homelessness and health care and the total rises sharply.
Why is it then, that we invest so little in support, treatment and prevention? Former senator Michael Kirby, the first chairman of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, noted that mental health and substance abuse represent about 35 per cent of the disease burden in Canada, yet receive about five per cent of the resources.
Just last month, B.C.鈥檚 representative for children and youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, noted in her report, Still Waiting, that a lack of clear political leadership has left this province with a fragmented, inadequate system of supports for youth facing mental illness, with long waits and little access to care and support.
A new government has the chance to address these serious problems, providing leadership, adequate resources and a strategy that links the health-care system and the community social services sector.
We should make sure that mental health and problem substance use services step out of the shadows.
Michelle Fortin is the executive director of Watari Youth, Family and Community Services and the chairwoman of B.C. Addiction Specialists and Allied Professionals. She wrote this on behalf of the Roundtable of Provincial Social Services Organizations.
