Saturday Photohunt: Symbols

Words can be powerful symbols...both of my daughters suffer from depression. Both have gone through some really bleak and hopeless periods, when suicidal thoughts rise to the surface as the only way to escape the black hole in which they find themselves. Thankfully, they have always reached out for help before it was too late. I pray they always will find that tiny spark of light that enables them to hang on in the midst of their darkness. Both of them have tattoos that symbolize life and hope, which I find so uplifting!

Sara's tattoo is a lyric from an album called Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) by a Newfoundland band called Hey Rosetta!...a reminder to keep breathing when anxiety or depression overtakes her...

Moira's tattoo is also one of her own conception. The word Alive is her reminder that it is good to be alive. And the daffodil is a symbol of new life that reminds her to hold on when all feels hopeless.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Check out Sandi's Saturday Photohunt page for more symbols!

 



ABC Wednesday: H is for...

H is for...Happy Face. Like the one on this grilled cheese sandwich made for me by my beloved. Isn't he a sweet and thoughtful husband? This made my day!!

H is also for...Hospital, where I spent most yesterday with my teenage daughter. My beautiful girl struggles with depression and was really struggling to push away the suicidal thoughts, so I took her into emergency to get some help from the crisis team. Such is the state of our mental health system that we had a five hour wait before she got in to see the crisis worker. "The" crisis worker...the one and only mental health crisis worker on duty at the children's hospital, and thus for all of children and teens in the entire municipality. Argh. There are caring and competent people working in the system...but the system itself is an underfunded nightmare. I will spare you my ranting and raving though!

Hop on over to ABC Wednesday and Have a look at what other bloggers have done with the letter H!

Mental Illness Awareness Week - October 3 - 9 2010

From the Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) website:

Stigma is defined as a mark or stain that is a permanent part of a person’s appearance or character and which sets him or her apart from society – what is normal.


Discrimination means doing things that actively deny people opportunities or target them for abuse. Discrimination also means not doing things such as inaction or neglect that causes harm. 

People with mental illness and their friends and family often say that the stigma and discrimination they face is worse than the illness itself.

Self-stigma occurs when people with mental illness and their families internalize society’s negative attitudes towards them, leading to self blame and low self esteem.


Aside from being personally painful, stigma is dangerous.

• It prevents people from asking for help in the first place.
• It leads to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness – when, in fact, people can and do recover from mental illness.
• It impedes investment in necessary mental health services and research as governments and granting bodies ignore this most important area of population health.

I urge you to check out MIAW and learn more about mental illness and mental health.  Their goal is "to end the stigma associated with mental illness, and ensure better understanding and access to diagnosis and treatment."  Amen to that.

I also highly recommend the website mindyourmind, which is "an award winning site for youth and emerging adults. This is a place where you can get info, resources and the tools to help you manage stress, crises and mental health problems. Share what you live and what you know with your friends."  The image above came from the mindyourmind website.  They have a collection of downloadable images on the site, plus an album of images on Facebook, which they encourage people to print, distribute, share, use as their own Facebook profile pic, etc.  Please also share this website with any youth in your lives who might benefit from access to mental health information, resources and tools.

As some of you are aware, I have two daughters who suffer from depression.  My older daughter has also been diagnosed with ADD and BPD.  Which means mental health is an issue very close to my heart.  We speak glowingly about our Canadian health care system, but I have to tell you, when it comes to mental health, our system fails miserably.  The individuals within the system are fantastic, but the funding simply isn't there to support an acceptable level of health care for those with mental illnesses.

In Nova Scotia, the waiting list for youth to receive psychiatric care is about two years...two years!!  In our case, just when Sara finally was about to see a psychiatrist at the children's hospital, she had her 19th birthday and we were told, sorry now she has to go through the adult mental services.  But did she get a priority placement on the waiting list in light of having already waited in the children's mental health services line-up?  No, she did not.  We eventually got help through my employer's excellent Employee Assistance Program (EAP), but so many people do not have access to such a program.  So how do they receive the care they desperately need?  The answer is that they don't.  They live with untreated mental illness.  And in the case of illnesses such as depression, going untreated far too often has fatal consequences.

Consider the following from the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA):

Who is affected?

• Mental illness indirectly affects all Canadians at some time through a family member, friend or colleague.
• 20% of Canadians will personally experience a mental illness in their lifetime.
• Mental illness affects people of all ages, educational and income levels, and cultures.
• Approximately 8% of adults will experience major depression at some time in their lives.
• About 1% of Canadians will experience bipolar disorder (or "manic depression").

How common is it?

• Schizophrenia affects 1% of the Canadian population.
• Anxiety disorders affect 5% of the household population, causing mild to severe impairment.
• Suicide accounts for 24% of all deaths among 15-24 year olds and 16% among 25-44 year olds.
• Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in both men and women from adolescence to middle age.
• The mortality rate due to suicide among men is four times the rate among women.

And now consider this excerpt from a Quick Facts sheet (2nd ed) from the Mood Disorders Society of Canada:



Not in any way to diminish the importance of medical care for physical health, but...these statistics are shocking, or if they're not shocking to us, they should be.  "Suicide accounts for 24% of all deaths among 15-24 year olds and 16% among 25-44 year olds", and the portion of a $300M federal funding allocation that went to mental health was 1.5%???  There is something seriously wrong with this picture.  There are a few steps being taken in the right direction.  For example, the Nova Scotia government has named the development and improvement of the NS mental health system as one of its strategic priorities, and is currently working to develop a Mental Health Strategy.  But there is a long way to go before the gap between the level of care needed and the level of care funded is closed, or even narrowed to a minimally acceptable level.  We need to keep reminding ourselves, our governments, our communities, that mental health is a priority.  We need to be vocal and persistent in our demands for adequate mental health services and care.  And now...if you'll excuse me, I must go write to my Member of Parliament...

It Gets Better project

A friend recently posted a link to this video:



This particular part moved me to tears:
"If there are 14, 15 year olds, 13, 12 year olds, out there watching this video...what I'd love you to take away from it, really is that It Gets Better.  However bad it is now, it gets better and it can get great and it can get awesome, your life can be amazing.  But you have to tough this period of it out and you have to live your life so you're around for it to get amazing and it can and it will."

I showed the video to my own 14 year old.  I pray she finds some hope and strength knowing she is not alone in struggling with the social nightmare known as high school.

The It Gets Better youtube channel includes many other moving videos.  I am so thankful there are people in this world who are willing to share their own painful stories in an effort to help others.  The light of the world shines bright in their hearts.  Check out these sites as well: Make It Better, and Week of Action, which highlights events and actions that can be taken to help youth and adults work together to make schools safer for LGBT youth right now.

Anti-bullying campaigns...let's ALL climb aboard this train

Many of my friends have shared this video on Facebook.  Ellen DeGeneres eloquently addresses some of the issues around bullying, particularly of those in the GBLTQ community.  Equally important, she includes on her show's website several links for anti-bullying sites: The Trevor Project, Angels and Doves, The National Centre for Bullying Prevention, Matthew's Place, GLSEN, STOMP Out Bullying.  Ellen ends her message with words of hope: "Things will get easier, people's minds will change, and you should be alive to see it."

I want to add that there are also several Canadian anti-bullying resources, such as Bullying Canada, Kids Help Phone, PREVNet.  And I imagine other countries have anti-bullying groups and help lines as well.

I weep for those who have been driven to such despair that suicide seemed the only option.  I pray those experiencing bullying will hold on for dear life, so that they will be alive to see things get easier.