A CRITICAL LOOK — Attending a May 6 screening of The Way We See It, a documentary about families dealing with mental illness, were from left, Dr. Joe Hawkins, Dr. Jeanne Randolph and community health nurse Arlene Draffin-Jones. Hawkins and Randolph both appear in the film, which takes a critical look at the links between mental illness and homelessness.(Buchok photo)

Health care system failing the mentally ill

By James Buchok

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s health care system is failing homeless people who suffer from mental illness by not providing sufficient followup care and support, says a Winnipeg community health nurse.

“More and more homeless people have mental health issues,” said Arlene Draffin-Jones. “They don’t have families or caregivers or a place to go for help. They get discharged from hospital and nobody follows up. It’s all bits and pieces.”

The comments followed a May 6 screening of the documentary The Way We See It at Winnipeg’s North End Wellness Centre. The film was produced in 2009 by the Provincial Council of Women of Manitoba and Micah House, the Archdiocese of Winnipeg’s Centre for Social Justice, with other funders and supporters. It tells the stories of four families dealing with mental illness.

Sister Johanna Jonker, co-ordinator at Micah House, said one quarter of all people will suffer from a mental illness at one point in their lives.

Draffin-Jones said she first met Jonker out of a shared concern for homeless people in Winnipeg’s North End. As she learned more about the homeless, Draffin-Jones said, she discovered “appalling” statistics linking mental illness and homelessness.

The evening was hosted by the North End Wellness centre, a modern 25,000 square foot multi-service facility providing programs and services for people of all ages.

Vince Sansregret, a faciltator at the centre, said more such community centres are needed to give the homeless and all in need of support a place to go.

“We offer this place and all its parts to the entire community,” he said. “These places strengthen bonds among people.”

Dr. Jeanne Randolph, a psychiatrist who appears in the documentary, said a typical psychiatrist will want to find a “chemical explanation” for everything and forget about the patient as a person.

“Psychiatrists are hiding behind the pill bottle rather than taking a holistic approach,” she said. “Education of a mental health worker should focus on how people cope,. It takes a long time to hear a person’s story and how that has affected their identity.”

Dr. Joe Hawkins also appears in the documentary to talk about his brother, who has suffered from schizophrenia for 25 years. Hawkins said a nutritional approach to healing has been marginalized by the health care system.

“I’m trying to tell people to run away from drugs,” he said. “We need activism to make research happen without the bias of pharmaceutical companies.”

In an open discussion an audience member said more research is needed into the causes of mental illness.

“We have found answers to many serious illnesses but we are nowhere near that in mental health,” he said.

A woman in the audience said she suffers from bipolar disorder and has been in hospital several times

“The hospital is very scary,” she said. “When you’re first in there and you’re manic the nurses are not nice to you because it’s a difficult situation, so they give you drugs to shut you down, so that you behave differently.

“For years I can be normal, then something happens and I’m back in the hospital and on this drug and that drug. The drugs dull the emotions and feelings. They’ll give me antidepressants but if I want vitamins that’s out of my pocket.”

Another woman who also said she lives with a mental illness said caregivers could “ask us what we need. A schizophrenic can tell you what they need. What works for me is Omega 3, exercise, a membership at the Y, the people in my community. No matter who you are and for any illness, that is what you need.”

Draffin-Jones agreed, saying there are many support groups for people suffering from a variety of illnesses but not for mental illness. Sharing experiences in a group “is better than anything else,” she added. “I have learned more from my patients than from anyone else.”

The documentary The Way We See It can be viewed at www.archwinnipeg.ca.