Amy Candido lives in recovery from eating disorders
The beginning of February marks the launch of the Provincial Eating Disorders Awareness (PEDAW) campaign and National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (Feb. 3-9, 2013).
PEDAW coordinator Amy Candido has a passion for prevention, after being tortured for years by her own eating disorder. Amy’s eating disorder began in grade eight and continued until her mid twenties. “I was existing, not living,” she says. (more…)
Juno award-winning master musician and composer Phil Dwyer has battled with addiction and mental illness
Phil Dwyer’s 2012 Juno award for the incredibly ambitious Changing Seasons is the latest in a “resume full of examples of his genuinely adventurous creative spirit,” says the Juno website. Changing Seasons was awarded “Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year.”
The Changing Seasons suite marks a new stage in Phil Dwyer‘s development as an artist, writes Nou Dadoun at VancouverJazz.com. The theme running through the composition is change, described by Phil as: “Changing weather, changing climatic conditions, the changing economic structure of the world and some big changes in my own life. It’s a call to acknowledge the fact of all these changes taking place and a query as to what are we going to do about it.” (more…)
Juno award-winning master musician and composer Phil Dwyer has battled with addiction and mental illness
Phil Dwyer’s 2012 Juno award for the incredibly ambitious Changing Seasons is the latest in a “resume full of examples of his genuinely adventurous creative spirit,” says the Juno website. Changing Seasons was awarded “Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year.”
The Changing Seasons suite marks a new stage in Phil Dwyer‘s development as an artist, writes Nou Dadoun at VancouverJazz.com. The theme running through the composition is change, described by Phil as: “Changing weather, changing climatic conditions, the changing economic structure of the world and some big changes in my own life. It’s a call to acknowledge the fact of all these changes taking place and a query as to what are we going to do about it.” (more…)
Karen Liberman believes thousands of workers affected by mental illness are trying to hide it, unable to talk about it
Karen Liberman was once so ill with clinical depression that she would sometimes spend 24 hours at a time crying. Though she now says she was barely surviving at the time, she nonetheless continued to go to work through ten years of illness. “While suffering, I was ashamed, and I kept my illness a secret as much as possible,” she told the magazine Benefits Canada. “I did not ask for support. I learned that not acknowledging my illness left me isolated; it also meant my co-workers could not address the issue, which created resentment.” (more…)
Toronto’s Houselink is working to hire “people with lived experience”—including former clients—at all levels
Houselink Community Homes is a non-profit, charitable agency based in Toronto that provides a range of supportive housing options, individualized supports and community-based programs. As one of the pioneers in the concept of ‘supportive housing’, Houselink created a brand new option for people leaving psychiatric institutions: a home that was permanent, affordable and a support based environment. Houselink is currently home to over 430 members living in virtually every neighbourhood in the city of Toronto. (more…)
It is estimated that thousands of Canadians incur a traumatic brain injury each year—the majority being young adults
Brain injury occurs suddenly, without warning. In an instant life is changed, forever. Every day we participate in activities that produce endless risks for sustaining a brain injury; events include a car accident while driving to the grocery store, a fall from a bike, or a blow to the head. Although each individual is unique, the effects resulting from a brain injury often have similarities and can include difficulty with memory loss, impaired reasoning skills, and tendency toward “one track thinking.” Emotional and social effects can also follow. (more…)
