Mental Health Archives — Lindsay Advocate

Navigating the mental health system for youth and families

Published on August 6, 2018 in Community/Health by Trevor Hutchinson

A mom and dad wait to talk to the crisis nurse in Lindsay’s Ross Memorial Hospital about their child, who has been brought to the emergency room several times for mental health situations in the last few months. The parents have been up all night and it shows: their eyes are clearly red and swollen from another night of crying and worrying, their brows wrinkled from another night of explaining — again — the situation to first responders.

Acronyms, diagnoses and waiting lists are duly recited with exhausted clarity — they sound and look like flood victims who have protected their home with a three-foot wall of sandbags (built exactly to recommended specifications) to stop a swollen river that’s six feet high and rising.

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Basic Income gone: Ford’s abrupt cancellation of program devastates Lindsay

Published on August 1, 2018 in Columnists/Poverty Reduction by Roderick Benns

All over Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford promised over and over that “a new day will dawn in Ontario,” should he be elected, “for the people.”

Well, here’s his new day dawning for about 2,000 people who live in Lindsay, their lives just starting to be changed for the better by basic income — and it’s not the kind of day they were expecting.

Here’s his new day dawning for Roseanne Johnson who says she can’t survive without that money, and that she and her son will “soon be on the streets.” Or Lauretta Blackman who saw her grandchildren for the first time because she finally had enough money for transportation.

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Fenelon Falls High, CMHA partner in mental health pilot

Published on July 5, 2018 in Columnists/Community/Health by Jack Veitch

Fenelon Falls High School, CMHA partner in recent mental health pilot

We all have mental health. Regardless of our age, life experience or background, it’s something we all live with. Our mental health is like a spectrum, a continuum that can move fluidly between being mentally well, or potentially mentally ill. There are a variety of factors that dictate how we move on that continuum— things such as genetics, our life experiences and even our lifestyles (sleep, diet, exercise etc.). We know that the earlier we can work to build skills and resiliency, the much greater rates of mental wellness we can experience. This begs the question, what is being done in our community to support youth mental health?

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Are the kids alright? Youth mental health in Kawartha Lakes

Published on May 5, 2018 in Community/Health by Trevor Hutchinson

You are driving past a school play yard and you see thirty kids playing on the school field at recess. According to widely-accepted figures, at least six of those kids you see – all sons, daughters, grandkids, cousins, neighbours, members of our community – will suffer or are suffering from some sort of mental health issue, be it anxiety, trauma, a mood disorder, or an emotional, social and behavioural issue.

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In the homestretch: About ten per cent of town soon to collect a Basic Income

Published on March 21, 2018 in Around Town/Community/Poverty Reduction by Roderick Benns

By April 16, about 2,000 Lindsay residents will be on the Ontario Basic Income Pilot – will you be one of them?

That’s the cut-off date the Province is imposing on any new basic income sign-ups. Those sign-ups have been happening every week for months now, held alternately at Celebrations and the Lindsay branch of Kawartha Lakes Public Library.

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Lindsay woman finds her mental health improving with basic income

Published on February 16, 2018 in Community/Health/Poverty Reduction by Roderick Benns

A Lindsay woman who has been receiving a basic income for the past three months says her life has taken a turn for the better – including her mental health.

Barb Munro was on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) for depression and mental illness, before deciding to apply for basic income a few months ago under the new pilot set up by the Province.

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Canadian Armed Forces takes mental health approach we could all use

Published on February 14, 2018 in Columnists/Health by Jack Veitch

To become an elite level athlete it’s a conventional belief that you need to train.

Professional athletes, for instance, dedicate hours of their day to weight training, cardio work and flexibility. When we think about athletes that have reached the pinnacle of their profession, we often don’t realize that a large part of their journey has been a mental one.

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Nightly dinner program for youth a vital part of Boys and Girls Club

Published on November 30, 2017 in Columnists/Community/Poverty Reduction by Heather McCullough

The only thing better than eating a well-balanced, nutritious meal is eating a well-balanced, nutritious meal with friends, both new and old.

The Warehouse Centre, at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kawartha Lakes’ Lindsay facility, has many popular programs and one of the most accessed is the nightly dinner program for youth, Grades 7-12.

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