WILKIE — The St. Jame’s CWL, with approximately 80 ladies from Wilkie and area and with the support of the diocese, felt the need to help with the fight against mental illness across the country.
The CWL ladies spearheaded a fundraising event and information session on the evening of April 11 for residents of Wilkie and surrounding communities.
There was a silver collection at the door and names were enteredfor door prizes donated by local and area businesses. The silent auction table was filled with donations and was beautifully laid out. Refreshments and snacks were provided by the staff of the Wilkie Delta Co-op. Staff members Amanda Roth, Tina Drummond and Cameron Bottorff were present to set out the snacks and help with cleanup.
Colette Frehlich welcomed everyone. Frehlich stated one in five Canadians will be somewhat affected by mental health, either themselves or someone close to them.
Pat Exley, CWL president, introduced Brenda Bourdrea and Carollyn Burnette from the Canadian Mental Health Association, Saskatoon, who had been invited to help educate everyone on mental illness versus mental health. Bourdrea has been a part of educating and doing presentations for schools and companies for 25 years and says she believes the more they communicate and talk about mental health issues, the better it is for everyone – education is the key.
Canadian Mental Health in Saskatoon provides many programs for adults suffering with mental illnesses, such as quilting and writing groups, life skills programs and vocational counselling.
Saskatchewan has the second highest suicide rate in Canada, with Nunavut coming in first. Saskatchewan also has the second highest rate of domestic violence of all the provinces.
Bourdrea explained the many misconceptions of mental illness including the assumption “it will never happen to me,” excusing bad behaviour, attributing it to mental illness and believing everyone just has different coping mechanisms.
There can be treatment and recovery for concurrent disorders, which include psychosis disorders, schizophrenia and substance abuse. Treatments range from medications, education, empowerment, support from all around and self-advocacy.
After presenting a PowerPoint visual of photos on sadness and depression, setting the mood of a lost soul, there was a pause and a photo showed the road to recovery. The mood was now set to happy music followed by inspirational quotes. The one that stood out was “I want you to know that someone out there cares.”
If one needs to talk to someone about their mental illness, there are options. The health hotline number is 811 from anywhere in Canada. Saskatoon’s mobile crisis number, 306-933-6200, is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Joanne DeWolfe is managing director at Prairie Sky Recovery in Leipzig. DeWolfe talked about the Prairie Sky Recovery Centre’s programs and what types of disorders come along with recovery and treatment and life.
Working with the clients and the families closely proves to be working well, so they developed a four-day program called Family Care. They have also developed a Supporting Recovery Program that would be a one-day workshop for those who can’t attend the four-day program. The workshops are going to be held at the centre, and then they are looking at bringing them out into the community.
About 80 attended the presentation and $2,000 was raised for the Canadian Mental Health Centre in Saskatoon.
