{"id":151837,"date":"2023-05-04T12:09:55","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T16:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=151837"},"modified":"2023-05-05T10:48:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T14:48:53","slug":"community-mental-health-resources-highlight-the-need-for-alternative-services-during-national-mental-health-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/community-mental-health-resources-highlight-the-need-for-alternative-services-during-national-mental-health-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Community mental health organizations highlight the need for alternative services"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week is Canadian Mental Health's Association's National Mental Health Week<\/a>.\u00a0 Centre l'\u00c9lan<\/a> and Dunham House<\/a> are two local organizations which have experienced an increase in demand for their services over the last couple of years as the pandemic created a shift in the state of people's mental health. They say it's a challenge to access alternative mental health resources in the Eastern Townships outside of the public healthcare system , and the situation needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n

Centre l'\u00c9lan is a community centre and resource that focuses on creativity and art therapy to help individuals going through a difficult period with their mental health. Dunham House is a residential treatment facility, and the only facility of its kind in Quebec that operates in English, for those living with mental health disorders and concurrent disorders, such as addiction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While there are other mental health resources in the region, such as Mental Health Estrie<\/a> and Association d\u2019entraide en sant\u00e9 mentale L\u2019\u00c9veil de Brome-Missisquoi<\/a>, both groups emphasized they are far and few in-between.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve noticed an increase of almost 30% in demand during and after the pandemic. In numbers we obviously see that the needs are very huge. That has encouraged us to see how we can offer better and give better access to people,\u201d said Martine Chiasson, director of Centre l\u2019\u00c9lan. \u201cFor Centre l\u2019\u00c9lan, it\u2019s so important that when somebody makes a call to get help we want to give a quick answer. (\u2026) We have managed to keep our capacity to respond quickly to the demands, but it\u2019s because we added more employees and adapted the structure to make sure there is always a place for a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chiasson added that \u201cit can\u2019t be denied\u201d that the needs have grown, especially with the isolation created by the pandemic that dramatically impacted the state of people\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way it changed, I could say the intensity of the need. People maybe wait and when they come in it\u2019s because it\u2019s really time that they need support. Feeling isolated is something that seems to be becoming something widely experienced. I think what has changed is that the people that come in, for a lot of them it\u2019s a new experience,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe pandemic has made the symptoms much more intense. (\u2026) They never had issues before with things that they dealt with and they are kind of surprised like \u2018omg I really need help right now and I didn\u2019t expect it.\u2019 In the last month it kicked in.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there are alternative services that exist to support people in their mental health journey, Chiasson noted that there is a lack thereof, especially when it concerns the English-speaking community. Centre l\u2019\u00c9lan offers different services in English and it adapts its group activities for English-speakers that want to participate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that every resource should make an effort to offer the most as possible. In reality, it\u2019s all about finances of course. If we had more money we would have groups in English. We\u2019ve tried in the past, but the thing is there is no financial assistance for specific activities that would permit us to offer specific groups in English,\u201d noted Chiasson. \u201cI know there are services for the English-speaking community, Mental Health Estrie for example. (\u2026) I\u2019m hoping there are more services offered now, but I must admit I don\u2019t really know. But I do know that the needs are there and that\u2019s why we want to make everything possible to reach out and answer.\"<\/p>\n

Anthony Berger, clinical supervisor at Dunham House, echoes Chiasson\u2019s concerns as the demand at Dunham House continues to grow. He noted that it\u2019s important to highlight National Mental Health Week to raise awareness and to reduce stigma, but he believes that there needs to be concrete action to implement alternative resources for people living with a mental health disorder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have to say that in terms of services, we are noticing that there is a lack thereof. Building the awareness is one thing, but really what we are trying to see is where people can go when they are struggling with their mental health, what are some tips and tricks that they can use,\u201d explained Berger. \u201cRight now, outside of local CLSCs with very long wait lists, there\u2019s very few options for the variety of needs of mental health, especially in the Eastern Townships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recognizing that not everyone is fortunate enough to access the services provided by Dunham House, which offers a variety of therapeutic activities to its clientele, Berger said that there needs to be \u201ca little bit more diversity in terms of services for mental health\u201d that goes beyond speaking to a CLSC worker or a psychologist on a sporadic basis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the alternative activities and the alternative coping strategies that exist besides talk therapy is a bonus. I think there needs to be some awareness, workshops, or support groups, that foster those type of modalities. For some people that struggle, just talking about their issues is difficult. If they can incorporate things through art, through music, and also just being in nature, like going on walks, it\u2019s really beneficial,\u201d he emphasized.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMore and more now people are coming in and they\u2019re asking for art therapies. (\u2026) What\u2019s special about that form of therapy is that it touches the creativity of the person. Most of the time when we are having mental health issues or we aren\u2019t feeling well, people don\u2019t often have the reflex to reach out to their creative potential. When we give access and nourish that way of reaching within, it sort of gives tools that are unexpected and it takes us away from our thoughts and intellectual way of dealing with our issues,\u201d noted Chiasson.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

National Mental Health week takes place from May 1 to May 7. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association\u2019s website, this year\u2019s theme is #MyStory to highlight the importance that storytelling plays in supporting mental health and reducing stigma.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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This week is Canadian Mental Health’s Association’s National Mental Health Week.\u00a0 Centre l’\u00c9lan and Dunham House are two local organizations which have experienced an increase in demand for their services over the last couple of years as the pandemic created a shift in the state of people’s mental health. They say it’s a challenge to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":147406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,223],"tags":[25762,25763,23510,16050,1107,11666,25761,25764],"radio":[246],"origine":[274,259,260],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151837"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151837"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152113,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151837\/revisions\/152113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151837"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=151837"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=151837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}