TORONTO MAD PRIDE 2016 - JULY 11-17

It's that time of year to raise awareness of the annual TORONTO MAD PRIDE week which is an arts, culture and heritage festival to celebrate and advocate for people living with a mental health challenge. Events include classes, artists' market and the Bed Push Parade.  Check it out to learn and to have fun!

FAME and Building Roots- Edible Allan Gardens Community Project

FAME is delighted to be a part of Building Roots’ Allan Edible Garden Project! We are excited to begin the growing process, and we are looking to put together a team of volunteers to help with our little plot in the garden! Gardening is an excellent way to get outside in the sunshine, get involved with the community, and on top of all that is very beneficial for your mental and physical health!

According to the research the mental health benefits of gardening include:

• Contributes to improved social interactions and community cohesion.

•  Reduces the occurrence of episodes of stress, and the severity of stress and associated depression.

•  Improves alertness, cognitive abilities and social skills.

• Alleviates symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, such as agitation and aggressive behavior, which can in turn improve circumstances for carers.

• Provides productive manual activity and beneficial social interaction for people tackling drug and alcohol dependency.

• Helps people manage the distress associated with mentally challenging circumstances.

-Davies, G., Devereaux, M., Lennartsson, M., Schmultz, U. & Williams, S. (2014). The benefits of gardening and food growing for health and wellbeing. Garden Organic and Sustain.

We started on Wednesday May 25^th with the planting, and now have a little herb garden with two kinds of basil (sweet and Thai), sage, dill and parsley. These little guys need lots of sunshine and fairly regular watering and upkeep, so we need volunteers!

If you’re interested in taking part in the community garden, or want to have input, please get in touch with us at the Toronto Central Office, either emailing kalynm@fameforfamilies.com, or calling 416-351-2751 . We would love volunteers this project, and any tips and tricks you have for a successful garden! 

                   

                                         

                                      

Framing our Perspectives

     Powerlessness, a feeling that is of near consensus when speaking of how mental health challenges are experienced. Caregivers and those with lived experience, at any given time can feel a sense of discouragement for a variety of reasons. Wait lists, lack of services, early discharge dates, narrow treatment options and common experience of feeling unheard are just some of the discouraging realities blocking families from receiving appropriate care and eventual stability. These are merely tipping points that exceed the social, racial, cultural, religious, political challenges that families may experience on a subjective level. As expressed by one client “It feels like scaling a mountain side that continues to grow. The closer we get to the top, the higher the peak seems to be. We never summit, we just always seem to climb.”

Rather poetically, such a metaphor describes beautifully such a common issue. One that is wrought with the additional challenges as illustrated. Confronting such feelings of vulnerability places caregivers in a situation of fragility, where all fears, anxieties and uncertainties are brought to the forefront of discussion. It is an experience shared by many, understood by few and viewed as being impossible to address. Such an emotional, social and psychological challenge calls for an approach that encompasses both realism and idealism. Just as in scaling the elevations of a mountain, balance is crucial.

There is no easy way to approach mental health challenges. Despite severity, everyone experiences stress, sadness, grief and anxiety. Only when there is an unbalance; biologically, socially and emotionally, do we see the formation of disorders and progressive detriment to ones’ psyche. Such taxing factors can be discouraging and are, both personally and publicly the root of many challenges faced by families and their loved ones. These are known factors, they in many cases are absolute experiences and with that become the primary focuses that impede families. Fixating on the stressors distracts of the overall goal.

Let It go.....

As previously posted last week was Mental Health Education Week here in Canada.  The week was long, hectic, non-stop and exhausting.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining here, I'm always grateful for all the opportunities we get to educate and to share with others about the community of mental health.

As the Director here at FAME, I'm not so connected to direct support services.  It is easy to close the door to my office and disconnect from the world and the families that we serve.  I turn to the paper trails, working hard to balance budgets, filling out report after report, scheduling staff and to make sure that the lights are on in all the sites we run.  Such is the life of the Director.

Yesterday, later in the day, I was sitting in my office, with the door shut.  The two FAMEkids Coordinators, Karen Naismith and Nicole Levy were hosting a FAMEkids support group. For those of you who don't know what FAMEkids is about, this is a very special program that supports children from 7 - 12 years of age who have a family member impacted by mental health challenges.  I could hear the occasional laugh or squeal from a kid down the hall.  Then it began....

What was that sound?  I stopped.  I began listening very quietly.  I cracked my door open just a bit. There it was.  I could clearly hear the voices of children singing.  I closed my eyes and listened even more intently.  "Let it go...let it go...."  There it was, the sweet voices of children singing the theme song from Frozen.  It was as if someone had blown a cool, soothing breeze of fresh air through my office.  In those few moments I realized it didn't matter that I wasn't a part of the boots on the ground team of delivering services because my job was to make sure that the resources are there to make these very special programs and very special moments happen.  It made all those long days sitting behind my desk, fretting over the paper work, fussing over funding, worth every single moment.

While I cannot share with you the faces of these children, I most certainly can share with you the lovely sounds I managed to capture on my phone.  So for every little voice that lifted me up yesterday, thank you so much. Turn up the volume and catch a cool breeze. #LetItGo  #KidsNeedHelpToo #FamiliesMatter #MentalHealthMatters #WeAreAcceptance #MHEW2016 #MHEW16 #FAMEkids

Mental Health Week 2016

It's Mental Health Week , and let's start off by taking a look around and noticing every person in your life who has been affected by Mental Illness.  I'm guess that's going to be each and every person you know, that has been touched by Mental Health in one way or another.  Let's be inclusive, let's advocate, let's support and let's learn.  Let us change the way Mental Health is seen in Canada.

Today Justin Trudeau released a statement for Mental Health week, and it can be read in its entirety HERE  

 “We all have a responsibility to raise our awareness about mental health. We must actively encourage honest and open conversations – in our homes, our workplaces, and our communities – about what mental health is and what we can do to increase our collective well-being. We must listen to our loved-ones, our colleagues, our friends, look out for signs and offer them support and advice in times of need. It can be a challenge for all of us to cope with the fast pace of life, daily stresses, and obligations. We all need to stand strong together."
-Justin Trudeau 

National Caregiver Day

Tuesday, April 5th is National Caregiver Day in Canada. Let us recognize families, friends, health professionals and communities supporting individuals and loved ones experiencing a mental health concern!

"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have" - Margaret Mead

Peel Children's Centre Spring Groups

Peel Children's Centre located in Mississauga is offering a variety of free groups for children, youth, and their parents beginning in April and May.

Group topics include:

• Learning about ADHD
• Transitioning to adulthood for pre-adolescent girls
• Managing as mothers
• Promoting healthy relationships between mothers and daughters
• Awareness and understanding of substance use

If interested in registering, please contact Mental Health Services for Children and Youth (centralized intake) at 905-451-4655.

Mental Health: A Special Series

In January of this year, The Mississauga News released a a three part special Series on Mental Health.  Topics range from personal stories, funding in peel, how the mental health system in peel is supporting the population; and how it's falling short.  I found it to be an incredibly in-depth series that examines the very real, and sometimes heartbreaking effects the mental health system in peel has on the families that are reaching out for support. Please take a look at this incredible series:
Part 1: Help....The Monsters Under my Bed are Real
Part 2: "The System Failed us"
Part 3: A New Frontier in Mental Health

I've found myself recently having a lot of conversation with families in Peel about the connections (or possibly missed connections) between the campaigns to end mental health stigma (Ex: Bell Let's Talk), and the funding that goes to the programs to help people when they are ready for support.  I was really struck by a Father who told me that although he's extremely encouraged by the advocacy and stigma campaigns, he has been increasingly worried about what happens when people feel more comfortable seeking help from our system If the funding still isn't there, wait lists, inpatient beds, and even crisis response may not be caught up to even access the services. Later that same day I came across this article from the National Post that sheds some light on people who are falling through the cracks of an overburdened system.

We have certainly come a long way in Mental Health Strategies in Canada, and  I truly believe that education is the first step.  We need to know how the system is working right now, in order to help make it better.  We can write letters, talk openly about it, bring forward the ideas of the families who are using the system themselves to make sure that the people who are really needing the help don't fall through the cracks.  Remember, as a community we have a lot of power.  We can work together to make a difference.

Family Matters

Following the holiday season's Edeka tear-jerking video reiterating the importance of family, Masterfoods (an Australian based organization) conducted a survey asking parents and children who the would like to have dinner with. Grab your Kleenex to watch the video here.

Let's make time for the people that matter most!

"Scientists Move Closer to Understanding Schizophrenia's Cause"

The internet was booming at the end of last week with an exciting development for the mental health community. "Scientists reported [last] Wednesday that they had taken a significant step toward understanding the cause of schizophrenia, in a landmark study that provides the first rigorously tested insight into the biology behind any common psychiatric disorder." Find the full article on the New York Times website, HERE.

A video on the subject from The Toronto Star can be watched HERE.

A break-down of research "Schizophrenia's strongest known genetic risk deconstructed" can be found on the National Institutes of Health website, HERE.

Wednesday January 27 Bell Canada Let's Talk Campaign

Bell Canada via their annual  Let's Talk Campaign raises awareness of mental health issues and fundraises for mental health support programs.


On the same day, the Canadian television program, The Social will be televising an interview with Prime Minister Trudeau to discuss mental health on a personal level and in regards to the federal government's role.  It is great to see that mental health awareness is increasing via the involvement of private and government institutions.

Recovery & Mental Health

The best way to understand mental wellness is to view it as a continuum. Our positions may shift from time to time depending on the events of our lives. Seeing mental health as a continuum means that we are not always stuck in one state and we are able to move back and forth. It’s important to understand that we all have mental health, just as we all have physical health. The quality of our mental and physical health fluctuates. Factors such as stress, lack of sleep and traumatic experiences can impact our mental health as can the level and quality of support that one has in times of stress. Just as we need to do things to maintain good physical health, it helps to do certain things to maintain good mental health, such as manage our stress, seek counseling and support when overwhelmed, or take care of our bodies through proper sleep, diet and nutrition.