Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health will invite Canadians to nominate people who devote their lives to those experiencing mental illness because they believe the status quo isn’t good enough.  [image by Mark Blinch, Globe and Mail]

More than seven million Canadians will experience a mental illness this year. The impact can be devastating to individuals, friends, family and communities. But there is growing reason for hope: Hope for greater scientific understanding of the causes, for more consistent and attainable treatment and for broader social acceptance to break down the stigma that prevents people from getting the care they need.  Read the rest of this article at The Globe and Mail…

Despite the ubiquity of mental illness and the steady erosion of the social stigma once attached to such struggles, the health-care system has not kept up.

By the age of 40, half of all Canadians will have suffered from some form of mental illness. More than 6 million, nearly one in five, struggle today with mood or anxiety disorders or other afflictions of the mind. One way or another, mental illness affects all of us.  Read the rest of this editorial at The Toronto Star…

When a person first experiences symptoms of psychosis, the treatment they receive can be critical in their long-term recovery. Psychosis, which is an inability to determine what is real or not, usually emerges in early adulthood.

Currently, the only treatment for psychosis symptoms is antipsychotic medication. But there are a number of challenges related to medication use, including the simple fact that it is hard for anyone to take medications daily. In addition, physicians have to decide which of potentially 60 medications to prescribe, and when to adjust dosing or try a different option. And if a patient stops taking medication and relapses, sometimes a drug that previously worked loses its effectiveness.  Read the rest of this article at CAMH…