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Psychiatrist Joris Wiggers shares his observations in new documentary film

June 20th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Psychiatrist Joris Wiggers shares his observations in new documentary film)

On the Road…to Find Out includes the stories of three people who relocated to Nanaimo for mental health services, comments from service providers, and the observations of Nanaimo psychiatrist Dr. Joris Wiggers

picture 486A new documentary film, On the Road to Find Out, examines the re-location of people with mental illness from smaller communities on Vancouver Island to Nanaimo—in order to access mental health services. The film was commissioned by Columbian Centre and directed by Vancouver Island-based filmmaker Paul Manly.

On the Road to Find Out examines questions like: What happens when people are taken out of their natural social setting after they become mentally ill? What are the positive and negative effects of re-location? Where is home once someone has been relocated for an extended period? (more…)

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Bike riders support mental health in women and families

June 20th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Bike riders support mental health in women and families)

People will be riding their way across British Columbia Sunday June 23, 2013 to support programs for women and families experiencing mental health challenges

picture 485Ride Don’t Hide is a community bike ride hosted by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), with the goal of strengthening and supporting the mental health of women and their families.

The community event is a ride, not a race, with routes designed for riders of all ages and abilities—from novice rider to the advanced cyclist. Regardless of distance, participants will travel a route supported from start to finish with rest stops, water to fuel the journey, and fans to cheer them on. (more…)

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LGBTQ youth face significant challenges

May 30th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on LGBTQ youth face significant challenges)

LGBTQ youth experience health inequities, mostly attributable to societal stigma and marginalization and its related risks of rejection and violence, as well as lower social supports

picture 480Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Two-Spirit, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth have well-documented health inequities, mostly attributable to societal stigma and marginalization and its related risks of rejection and violence, as well as lower social support. These health inequities include higher rates of mental health problems, including suicidality, sexual health issues, including STIs and teen pregnancy involvement, problem substance use, injuries, and foregone health care. They are more likely to become homeless, and face discrimination in education, employment, and housing. (source: Elizabeth Saewyc, PhD , RN, FSAHM) (more…)

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Psychiatry, the DSM, and human rights

May 23rd, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Psychiatry, the DSM, and human rights)

Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is one of several activist groups charging that the American Psychiatric Association is committing serious human rights abuses

picture 477The 2013 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) was held in San Francisco from May 17 to 22. While delegates gathered inside the Moscone Center for what the APA called “the psychiatry event of the year” a small group of protesters gathered outside. SF Weekly reports that the group coalesced under the banner “Occupy Psychiatry”—or “Occupy the APA”. This year’s APA annual meeting has attracted significant attention due to the release, at the meeting, of the 5th edition of the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (called the DSM for short, and sometimes referred to as the “bible” of psychiatry). (more…)

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Subjected to shock therapy as a child, survivor went on to champion human rights

May 23rd, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Subjected to shock therapy as a child, survivor went on to champion human rights)

“It made me want to die … I remember that they would stick a rag in my mouth so I wouldn’t bite through my tongue and that it took three attendants to hold me down”

picture 478Ted Chabasinski is an American psychiatric survivor, human rights activist and attorney who lives in Berkeley, California. At the age of six he was taken from his foster family’s home and committed to a New York psychiatric facility. Diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia he underwent intensive electroshock therapy (now termed electroconvulsive therapy or ECT) and remained an inmate in a state psychiatric hospital until the age of seventeen. He subsequently trained as a lawyer and became active in the psychiatric survivors movement. In 1982 he led a successful campaign seeking to ban the use of electroshock in Berkeley, California. (source: Wikipedia) (more…)

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A family working hard to make sense of mental illness

February 28th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on A family working hard to make sense of mental illness)

Calen Pick, his mother Jessie Close, and his aunt, Glenn Close, are working to alter public perception of mental illness through their stigma-fighting campaign Bring Change 2 Mind

picture 457Calen Pick’s famous aunt, Glenn Close, was a keynote speaker last spring at the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s conference about stigma and the way we see mental illness. Together with her sister, Jessie Close, and her nephew, Calen Pick, the three family members helped to put a family face on the experience of living with–and dealing with–mental illness among family members. (more…)

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