The stigma of mental illness has followed Celeste Bridgeman’s family around for three decades.
Her brother is bi-polar, and it was a diagnosis that caused pain and confusion for the whole family.
“When he was first diagnosed, it was really, really rough,” Bridgeman said. “But we’ve dealt with this over thirty years now, so we’ve become accustomed to it.”
Even as the causes and affects of mental illnesses become better known, the stigma remains attached to those who live with conditions such as depression or bi-polar disorder.
“The stigma has improved, but it is still there, in a big way,” Bridgeman said.
It is a stigma people all over the country spend every day fighting.
“It can happen to anybody,” Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association David Nelson said. “It’s cross gender, it’s cross economic barriers, it’s cross whatever.
“There’s almost nobody, if you think about your immediate or cross extended family, that doesn’t know someone with a pretty significant mental health issue.”
Millions of Canadians are too scared to learn about the disease and its impacts, instead choosing to hide their pain in the shadows. Many decide not to seek help because they think others will look down on them.
“The statistics are that well over half of the people who have very treatable depression do not come forward in a timely way, and often wait until they’re very, very ill,” Nelson said.
Many, however, have come forward to share their stories. Former Saskatchewan MP Dave Batters spoke about his fight with depression, but sadly committed suicide in the summer of 2009.
His memory is kept alive through a golf tournament that helped fund a commercial to convince others to seek help.
Aid is something Bridgeman hopes more people will search for.
“One in five people are afflicted with some form of mental health illness,” she explained. “That is a huge number of people.”
Many of those people need some sort of care, and on Tuesday, Premier Brad Wall was taken to task about the province’s commitment to those who require assistance.
The discussion mostly involves a delay in replacing the psychiatric hospital in North Battleford. Family members of those living with a mental illness say it is completely unacceptable for a modern facility. They point to a lack of space for proper programs, and entire wards which have only one bathroom.
“We live in Saskatchewan, Canada, not in a third world country,” Bridgeman said. “We wouldn’t put people with physical health issues in a facility like that, so why is it okay for people with mental health issues to?”
The SaskParty, however, said they are planning to improve the facility.
“We put planning dollars into the health region,” Health Minister Don McMorris said. “We have a planning committee set up to look at what needs to be done there.”
Not only do the facilities need help, but those who provide care say they need it, too.
Mental health professionals say they need more psychiatric nurses to be trained in the province in order to give the best level of care.
“We work in the community with families,” Mary K Renwick, President of the Registered Psychiatric Nurses Association of Saskatchewan said. “We develop, help communities, build support systems.”
Recently, the province recently created 30 training seats, but the nurses say that number needs to be doubled so proper care can be maintained.
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