Dear Editor
People don’t know what to do when it comes to mental health. If you were to have a heart attack, people around you know what to do. If you are having temporary, occasional chest pains you know where to go and who to talk to. Even before that you know to exercise, avoid certain foods and live a certain lifestyle to ever avoid heart problems.
If you are having severe anxiety, chronic depression or crippling addictions do you know what to do? Do you know where to go or what to expect when you get there? Nothing is worse than the fear of the unknown to people suffering from mental illness.
The people of Saskatchewan need to know the steps to take when having a crisis. People don’t realize you must go to emergency first and from there you get admitted. You can also get a referral from a psychiatrist or a therapist to the psych ward. People don’t know to get a referral to a psychiatrist or a therapist from their family doctor.
The public needs to see what the inside of a psych ward looks like, what to expect when inside and how to get there before a crisis even occurs. People need to know what the rooms look like, what they can take with them, where they will be eating, how often nurses come by, how their medications are dispensed, that there is group therapy sessions daily and that you need passes to smoke or walk the halls while in a psych ward.
The people of Saskatchewan need to see the inside of a detox center and addictions treatment facility to learn what to expect when inside and how to get there before a crisis. They need to know the waiting list for a bed can be days for detox and weeks for treatment. They need to know the difference between detox and treatment. People need to know you can admit yourself or be referred by a therapist, doctor or addiction councillor. People need to know addiction councillors exist and where to find them.
Rural people need to know that during a crisis you should go to your local hospital, that you can be treated there or referred to another place at the discretion of the doctor. Rural people also need to know that they need much better access to mental health professionals.
Mentally ill people need the threat of the unknown gone. There needs to be much more education with extremely easy access to it. These unknowns should be common knowledge to everyone.
Health care is a monster. Our health minister Jim Reiter admitted recently that his job is “like drinking from a fire hose.”
Why not divide and conquer?
Saskatchewan should have a mental health minister whose job is to oversee all things mental health. This position can work closely with the health minister, labour minister, education minister, First Nations minister and others to better educate the public and to better the standards of mental health before, during and after crises occur.
Jim Reiter implied our health care in general is too big of an issue for one person to oversee and it seems mental health is the first thing to get diluted. I believe if it’s one politician’s job to work solely on mental health it will solidify the system, educate the public, stifle the stigma involved and spread awareness.
Please support the cause and go to https://www.petitions24.com/create_a_minister_of_mental_health and sign the petition to have the Sasatchewan government create a Ministry of Mental Health.
Todd Rennebohm
Indian Head
