When Life's Demands Take Their Toll

Changeways for depression

Pat Merrett

My husband Joe couldn’t figure out why this was happening. He was 58 years old and was sitting in the backyard crying. And it wasn’t the first time.

In July 2009—seven years later—Joe attended his first session of the Changeways program. This is a weekly group program based on cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). It teaches problem-solving and lifestyle management skills as related to negative thoughts, social interaction, stressors and relapse prevention.

In looking back, Joe has come to realize that he has lived with depression for most of his life.

From Pain to PTSD

Running the gamut of CBT

Lynda Marie Neilson

I had a serious motor vehicle accident nine years ago while working for a very high-paced software company. I was in Ottawa—far from my home in Vancouver—driving to a client’s suburban location. Another driver wasn’t paying attention when changing lanes and rear-ended me at high speed. I ended up in a multi-car accident involving nine vehicles. Numerous ambulances and fire trucks were called. I had to wait on the side of the road in the minus 40 degree weather, hearing sirens wail and wail as they tried to get through the backed-up traffic.

Conversations with Myself

Danielle Raymond
This article is dedicated to Danielle’s little sister, Shannon

If you had asked me when I was 16 if I thought I’d be sharing my life with an eating disorder, I’d probably have said not likely. I may have added something about not having the strength or the willpower to defy hunger. I had no idea that within a year I’d be popping diuretics like Tic Tacs and weighing my worth in pounds. Like so many other young women—and men too—I wandered unknowingly into the arms of an eating disorder. We’ve been inseparable ever since.

Should We Have Been More Aware? A mother and son share their story

Epilogue: Mom’s View

Gina*

All those cliché sentiments about high school being the “best years of your life”—well, the opposite has been true for my son. Imagine navigating high school while coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). That has been Matt’s journey.

Matt was always a cheerful, active, well-liked boy with an easy infectious laugh. He liked skateboarding, swimming and hanging out with his friends. But by August 2005, he was beginning to worry excessively. When, just a couple of weeks into his grade eight year he told me he was afraid the computers at school would ‘get him in the temple,’ I knew we were in trouble.

Should We Have Been More Aware? A mother and son share their story

How Cannabis Changed My Life

Matt*

It started in the summer before high school. I mysteriously developed strange vibrations in my neck and head that caused pain and headaches—and fear. It was a turbulent summer in many ways: parents breaking up, a bad plane ride, general angst about the coming school year. I felt an increasing need to protect my neck and my brain. I stopped doing anything that required me to move my neck and head. Anything that vibrated or had frequencies—electronic stuff like computers, TVs, microwaves, for instance—made me anxious and I avoided them.

Marijuana: Help or hassle?

Emily Smith*

Related Resource:
McManis, S. (2009, May 24). US CA: Pro-, anti-marijuana forces cite their studies. The Press Democrat. Media Awareness Project: www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09
/n559/a05.html.

I’ve been a nurse for a very long time, in acute and long-term care, public health and health education for professionals and non-professionals of all ages. Over the years, I’ve noted that some people benefit greatly from alternative medicines. But in some cases, patients are restricted from pursuing health alternatives. Cannabis, or marijuana, is a good case in point.

Alternatives: Miracle Marijuana

Michelle Rainey

At the tender age of 15 I started to experience severe stomach pain, nausea, cramping and diarrhea; a cycle that, I didn’t know then, would repeat my whole life. Nobody seemed to know what it was or how to treat it, and my symptoms persisted with no relief for over two years. After many uncomfortable and painful tests, I was eventually diagnosed with Crohn’s disease by my gastroenterologist, who specializes in diseases of the bowel. There is no known cause or cure for Crohn’s disease, also known as inflammatory bowel disease.

Cannabis and Me

A cautionary tale

Anita Smith

In January 1998, when I was 27, I began hearing voices. The first voices I heard told me they were going to kill me. I literally ran out of the warehouse studio I was living in and into the street. I was petrified. I rode the busses all night, trying to escape the voices—but they followed me. I couldn’t figure out how these voices could observe me, hear me, know me. I decided they used ‘mind technology’ to do this. The voices had names and histories—some of them were intriguing, others terrifying.

Cannabis and My Road to Healing

Kerry Porth

I was one of those children who simply “fell under the radar”—no one knew I was unwell. I was sexually abused as a child and have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since I was about 11 years old. Despite a suicide attempt at 17, I was never given the help I desperately needed.

Full circle

I smoked pot in my teens—it was easy to get because I knew someone who sold it. But I stopped at the age of 17 after making myself ill by smoking too much on several occasions. I didn’t drink much because it was too hard to get a hold of the alcohol.

From Thrills to Ills

Why smoking pot is risky business

Geoffrey Griffiths

I started smoking pot when I was 13. I was not a happy camper as a kid. School was misery right from the start. I had great difficulty learning to read and write—and failed grade one. I had no sympathy or support from my teachers. In fact, I was frequently bullied and physically abused by several elementary school teachers—interestingly, two of them female, both redheads. One beat me up—punching, kicking and screaming at me. Shame (from feeling stupid), anxiety, low self-esteem and sleep issues escalated. I didn’t want to fall asleep—it would just bring the next school day, and more trouble. And a reoccurring dream of a woman’s looming, glaring face would jar me awake, terrified.

Taking Care of That Little Girl

Maureen Lavallee

For 35 years, I ‘danced’ with the work world. I have no idea how I functioned—but I did.

I’ve been squirrel-brained for much of my life. From the time I was 10, I knew something was wrong with me. I started ‘hiding’ and being very quiet. Yet, at school, I was disruptive; I was so filled with depression and anger. (My father was an alcoholic and, after bouts of drinking, could be quite abusive. And, after my parents got home from partying, they always fought, which kept me awake until daybreak.)

Return to Work: Ready or not?

Karen Six

How long is this gonna take?” I wailed, sobbing so hard that snorts and bubbles of mucus and tears choked and blinded me. “I’m never going to be back to myself. The future just stretches out forever in one long grey tunnel.”

My doctor responded with a firm voice and intimate concern: “It’s going to take as long as it takes. I know that may not sound like an answer to you right now, but as you get better, and you will get better, you’ll see.”

This advice seemed infuriatingly vague to me. I wanted specifics. Dates circled on my calendar. That was seven years ago.

The Mostly Incompetent Employee

Frank G. Sterle, Jr.

A Catch-22
“You f@!$% clown—can’t you get anything right!” my boss bellowed at me.
Actually, my “boss” was more like my ‘host.’ It was mid 1986, and I was an 18-year-old trainee, basically working for peanuts under a federal employment program.

The Bottom Line

There is no health without mental health

Arto Tienaho

I was the shop foreman at an ultralight aircraft manufacturing facility. We’d been under the gun for six months, working excessive amounts of overtime to fill the orders. If these orders weren’t completed and shipped by the specified date, the contracts would become void and everything lost. The overtime resulted in more things going wrong—and I had a boss with a temper.

A Triple Threat

Workplace isoloation, West Coast grey and the "black dog"

Gwen Marsh

It was supposed to be an ideal solution. My husband had a new job in a new city. I could keep my old job by working from home. Having flexible hours meant more time for my four-year-old little girl. However, the ideal turned out to be a set-up for disaster.I work as an interaction designer (i.e., I optimize how people interact with the Web) and market researcher for an online company. Before our move, I was heavily involved in a big project that required me to work long hours. I loved it. Despite the pressure, I was keenly aware that I was helping build an educational product that would one day help kids make good decisions about their future.

Insurance Reassurance

Disability income a must for recovery

Ross Taylor

In 2005, I was in the hospital for six weeks and off work for four months. I cannot imagine trying to get through that period of mood-related psychosis while also having to worry about possibly losing my job, income and apartment. In that year, I started full-time employment at Coast Mental Health Foundation, which has employer funded short-term disability insurance. This insurance coverage provided me with income for this four-month period off work.

Transitioning from Disability Pension to Full-Time Work: Scary but liberating

Tara Timmers

I’ve been working toward wellness for the past 14 years. My recovery journey began after I was given a diagnosis of schizophrenia at age 19. I had been a top student throughout high school, but in grade 12 started hanging out with the arty, party crowd. This led to substance use and my mental illness. I was hearing voices and seeing things that weren’t there, so couldn’t work.

Once diagnosed, I was put on medication. I also needed a lot of help to deal with the stress in my life. A support team was put together for me, consisting of a psychiatrist, a case worker, community agencies—and my mom, who has been a huge factor in my recovery.

A Little Help From My Friend

The role of unions when a worker has an addiction problem

Jude Morrison

 For the past 17+ years, Jude has worked as a representative for a number of unions in BC. Jude has depression and, given her own family history of depression and alcoholism, she takes a special interest in these issues in her work and life

I never thought much about issues of mental illness or addictions in the workplace until I began working as a labour relations practitioner in health care. I work for  a union that represents nurses.

Educating Youth About Mental Illness

Shelby Rankel

My story

I have struggled with mental illness since I was eight years old. For a long time I didn’t even know I had a mental illness. I just thought I had a ‘problem’ and I’d get over it. I didn’t realize that my anxiety and my repetitive and obsessive actions were a sign of something bigger. What was just a nervous habit at first escalated into full-blown obsessive-compulsive behaviour. I tried to hide my behaviour from my parents as best as I could.

Weathering the Storms—A family's journey through earthquakes, loss and bullying

Shabana*

Loss upon loss

When I inherited the care of two beautiful young girls entering their teenage years, I had absolutely no idea what a roller coaster journey we were all about to embark on!

Simran* (15) and Layla* (12) came to live with me here in Canada about three years ago. They had survived a devastating earthquake in their South Asian country, but had lost their home. Roused out of deep sleep, they fled the building with their dad while it crumbled all around them. This was on October 8, 2005.