Visions Journal

PDF | Vol. 12, No. 4 (2017)

This issue of Visions explores families and crisis and how the entire family experiences a crisis when one person experiences a crisis. A family is any important person or group in your life outside of your treatment providers, be it a biological family or the family you’ve chosen. A crisis means mental health or substance use symptoms are worsening and that person needs additional help or treatment. When a loved one is ill, it’s only natural to feel upset, to worry about the future, to want to know how to help. Yet in some cases, family members may not even know a loved one’s diagnosis. They may not learn approaches that are helpful and resolve conflict. They may be left out of important care conversations and decisions. In this issue of Visions, see how recognizing families as assets in mental health care, not liabilities, can change lives

Background

• Editor's Message
  (Sarah Hamid-Balma)

• Being Seen and Heard: It matters in wellness; it matters even more in crisis
  (Keli Anderson)

• Families in Crisis and BC’s Mental Health Act
  (Deborah Conner)

Experiences and Perspectives

• Writing My Own Lyrics: Overcoming depression, anxiety and country music
  (Kim Wilson)

• Hindsight—A Difficult but Valuable Gift 
  (Leslie McBain)

• Talking about drugs with your child
  (Centre for Addictions Research of BC)

• You Probably Don’t Know What I Did Last Summer … A teen’s experience with a mental health crisis
  (Jessica Wiechers)

• The Long Road: A mother’s perspective on mental illness, community and recovery 
  (Lisa)

• Family, Friends and Borderline Personality Disorder: How to support the people you love
  (Laurie Edmundson)

• A Bump in the Road: How an individual’s crisis affects the family
  (Valentina Chichiniova)

• New Life Brings Hope to a Family Struggling with Mental Illness and Addiction
  (Linda Del Degan)

Alternatives and Approaches

• Plotting the Course Ahead: Mental health and the Ulysses Agreement
  (Mark Littlefield and Natasha L. Smith)

• Connecting the Dots: Privacy, information-sharing and family participation in the mental health system
  (Clara Sitar)

• Family Support and Involvement at Vancouver Coastal Health
  (Isabella Mori)

• Breaking the Cycle of Crisis: The role of police in a crisis intervention
  (Deborah Skaey)

Resources