Friday, November 21, 2014

Recent Tragedies In The News


I am bombarded by seeing the vastness of the pain inflicted by mental health. Just the other day, the mayor of a large local city was on the news, openly discussing his young adult daughters battle with depression and anxiety. She apparently was hospitalized during the recent elections here in beautiful British Columbia. A lovely girl. I invited him via letter to the suicide town-hall meeting we will be having tomorrow, only if his daughter has supervision.
The next item on the news, was about a 19 yr old, Nicholas, from Newfoundland. He was a loving, caring and sweet boy according to his mother's report who at some point stopped taking his medications. The mom was unable to secure medication for her son, as he was past the legal age limit, and she could not force her son to go to his meetings, and see his doctor. He went off the rails and stabbed an 11 yr old boy in the throat, in St. John's who is now in a coma. The mother indicated that she is unsure if any of the medications in-fact has helped her son, who is awaiting trial.

The mother has now gone to an international agency, I believe founded in the U.K., called “Hearing Voices Network”. They believe that there is too much guesswork in mental health; they are not addressing the cause of the symptoms, and too much emphasis on pills. This young man has tried 4 different kinds. According to the spokesperson for “Hearing Voices”, he says that “you don't have a headache because you have a Tylenol deficiency.

Another case was with a young woman who could not afford her psychosis medication as she was awaiting ministry funds. A person in BC has to show that they have sought after work for 1 month before they can even apply for welfare. Thus, if there is no ministry funding for housing, food and medicine, then all these patients fall by the wayside. This young woman committed suicide, in the home of a man who offered her shelter, and friendship.

Recently three RCMP officers were killed and two people injured because of a man with mental health issues, by the name of Bourque.

A house party in Calgary resulted in 5 dead,due to a man with paranoia.Calgary Cop's son charged with mass killing
http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/04/15/five-dead-in-stabbing-at-house-party-in-northwest-calgary

A lady from my suicide walking group said that the prisons are full of people with mental health issues. My eyes are open, the scales have fallen off. What can we do, to change this?

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