Overcoming fear through understanding and education

By Carolyn Sloan

The Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

“Often the first response to an episode of mental illness is fear, but even stronger than our fear is a desire to help.”

Coming across someone in the thrusts of an anxiety attack can be a very scary experience, says Canadian Mental Health Association’s community facilitator for Annapolis County, Dawn Scott. Without knowing how to help in these situations or having an understanding what the person suffering is going through, the result is often a sense of fear and helplessness.

In an effort to reduce fear surrounding mental illness within communities across the Maritimes, the CMHA organizations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have bought into the Changing Minds program, what has been developed in Newfoundland.

“If you want to decrease the stigma, people have to familiar with mental illness,” says Marge Keast, president of CMHA Annapolis County. “What’s familiar isn’t quite as scary.”

Part of the Annapolis County branch, Scott is one of seven people in Nova Scotia who have been trained as a facilitator for the program, and she hopes to soon deliver Changing Minds to groups in Annapolis County that come into contact with people suffering from mental illness,

“It’s designed to provide education, not only about mental illness itself, but what it’s like for the families and the people who live with mental illness,” she explains. “The program also helps us get in touch with our own response to mental illness so we can help people respond better.”

While groups like the RCMP, medical professionals, and lawyers would be an obvious fit for the program, the need for Changing Minds is truly universal, says Scott. As mental illness affects one in five people, it is an issue that affects everyone within the community.

“Any illness that affects 20 per cent of us affects all of us,” she explains. “We have all seen how lack of knowledge, lack of communication [surrounding mental illness] has caused unnecessary tragedy in our communities.”

UNDERSTANDING THE ILLNESS

Part of understanding mental illness is becoming familiar with its symptoms and causes. Like any other illness, those who suffer can experience good days and bad days. Episodes can be triggered by stresses, such as the sudden loss of a loved one or financial worry. “It’s an illness like diabetes,” Scott explains. “Mental illness is a vulnerability. Any illness is a vulnerability.

“There’s medication that can help, but one of the most effective ways to help someone with a mental illness is listening to them, giving them a safe place to talk.”

As people suffering from mental illness can seem fine one moment and completely irrational the next, it is important, she emphasizes, to understand that this is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.

“There’s a difference between mental health and mental illness,” says Scott. “Everybody experiences highs and lows…The difference for people with mental illness is that their symptoms don’t go away. They digress, they get worse.

“Most people have the ability to rebalance. Their brains have the capacity to rebalance those chemicals. People with mental illness lack certain chemicals they need to rebalance.”

A SUPPORTIVE ROLE

Despite this chemical imbalance, there are many people with mental illness who are able to have a high quality of life, to have successful careers and raise a family, particularly with support from those around them.

Scott emphasizes that part of the stigma is a fear that people with mental illness are a danger to those around them, and yet it is because of this fear that those affected often suffer in silence.

“People who are experiencing an episode of mental illness are no more likely to become violent than anyone else,” she explains. “Whatever is going on, they’re not looking to hurt somebody. They’re terrified.

“They don’t want to get locked up. People are afraid they’ll be institutionalized against their will. In reality, that’s not what people in the health profession want to do.”

Relating to the fears and misunderstandings surrounding mental illness is of wide-ranging benefit. As Scott explains, many experience its onset during the teen years, and it can be particularly challenging to convince young people to get help when they feel embarrassed or ashamed. Addiction can also be a symptom of mental illness that goes untreated, and with a growing concern for alcoholism and habitual drug use among teens, the need for education and understanding is evident.

“It’s like connecting the dots,” says Scott. “We say alcoholism is a growing problem with our young people. We know of the early onset of mental illness in the teen years.

“We need to start backing it up to mental health and mental illness.”

FLEXIBLE WORKSHOP

Part of the beauty of the Changing Minds program is the flexibility of its delivery. As a facilitator, Scott can provide a two-day intensive workshop, or spread the program out over several days or weeks to suit the needs of a particular workplace or community group.

She encourages anyone who is interested in the program to contact her at 665-4801 for more information. Individuals who are not affiliated with a participating group are also encouraged to see if there is an opportunity to join scheduled sessions.

As CMHA Nova Scotia has made a substantial investment by buying into the program, the costs associated with delivering the workshops help them recoup this expense as well as go to support the ongoing operation of the non-profit organization.