Speaking out
Citizens rally for better mental health and addictions services on P.E.I.
Lorne Valley resident Tyler Crane says he has experienced firsthand the hopelessness of trying to navigate through P.E.I.’s out-dated mental health care system.
Crane told a crowd of about 130 Islanders in front of the Coles Building on Sunday that his experience in trying to get treatment for depression and anxiety brought him to the “brink of destruction.”
Crane said he was able to come back from that brink, but only through the support of his family, therapist and doctor.
“Without them, I really don’t know if I’d be standing here to talk today,” said Crane, who was one of the rally’s organizers. “I know how difficult and hopeless it can be to try and navigate through an out-dated and lacklustre mental health system.
“We are experiencing nothing short of a crisis here and it’s about time we got together to show the government just how powerful the message is we’re trying to send.”
The #HowManyWade rally at province house saw Islanders call for improved mental health and addictions services on P.E.I. and was born out of a Facebook group with the same name.
The group is halfway through a 100-day campaign that publishes an open letter every day from a different P.E.I. family or individual who says they’ve been let down by P.E.I.’s mental health care system.
Sarah Stewart–Clark, who started the page and also hosted the rally, said the group has seen little response from the province in regards to eight items they’ve requested.
Those include: more ER nurses with psychiatric training, a mobile mental health crisis team, a child psychiatrist in Charlottetown, the implementation of a suicide prevention strategy, a child advocate and more therapists in the public school system.
Stewart–Clark said while investing in mental health system is costly, it is outweighed by the potential risk.
“The cost of not treating the people who have gone through trauma and mental illness, that cost is robbing P.E.I. of its future,” she said.
“With a little investment, we can provide adequate treatment to our Islanders who are dealing with a mental illness and allow them to reach their full potential.”
The rally saw Green Party deputy leader Lynne Lund and PC MLA James Aylward both speak on the need for more resources.
Health Minister Rob Henderson also addressed the crowd and said the government was listening.
“It’s obviously very discouraging when someone has to wait for treatment and things may not be as immediate as they would wish. But I want you to also understand this is a priority of our government. We’ve added a great deal of community programs and mental health supports over the past year,” said Henderson, adding that the province will continue to work on initiatives like creating a mobile crisis response team and putting more mental health nurses into the school system.
Henderson was met with jeers when he said the province would be investing more than $24 million in mental health care over the next 10 years.
“That’s too late,” said one individual.
Crane said while initiatives like a redesign of Hillsborough Hospital sound great, the timeline of completion for 2021 is too long.
“Does that mean until 2021 we have to continue with the status quo?” he asked.
Stewart-Clark ended the rally by saying that she felt she was still waiting for a response from government.
“The rally started with a question that we still don’t have an answer to,” she said. “And that is ‘how many Wade?”