Still the stigma
Young woman from Pictou County nominated for award for short film focusing on need for awareness about mental illnesses
Chelsea Pettipas was scared of her own thoughts.
It was December 2015 and she was thinking about suicide. She didn’t know what to do, so she went to the emergency room at the Aberdeen Hospital.
Within an hour, a doctor came into the private room where she had been placed and told her that she could stay there until she was feeling OK, but then she’d have to go home because the psychiatrist wouldn’t be able to see her until Monday.
“That’s like telling a heart attack patient, ‘OK, I know you’re having a heart attack now, but you’re going to have to wait until Monday to see a coronary specialist,’” Chelsea said.
“People just don’t view it the same way,” said her mother Debi. “With mental health, there’s a negative stigma to it, but if it’s a physical issue, they want to deal with it and they want to deal with it right away.”
There’s a common misconception that mental illness isn’t life threatening, but it can be, Debi said.
Chelsea decided then that more had to be done, so as soon as she was able, she created a short documentary film on the state of mental health in Pictou County that has had more than 13,000 views. Because of it, Chelsea’s been nominated for an award with the ANCA World Autism Festival, which will be held Sept. 29 to Oct. 4 in Vancouver.
Her nomination was put forward by Pictou East MLA Tim Houston and the Pettipas family received confirmation recently that her nomination was accepted along with an invite to the festival.
In her film, Pettipas interviewed other people who have struggled with mental illness. Her hope is that the film will draw attention to the issue and lead people to make changes for the better.
Chelsea said her own struggle with mental illness started when she was about 11 or 12 years old and battled bouts of depression and anxiety. After years of seeing mental health experts, she was told in her late teens that she has an autism spectrum disorder.
She said it was a relief in a way to know why her brain worked differently from others.
“My demon had a name,” she likes to say.
It explained why she had struggles getting along with other students, didn’t like being in crowds and often found certain smells overwhelming.
As hard as it’s been at times, she has finally been able to figure out ways to cope through a proper diagnosis and support of her family.
She sees improvements in mental health care, but believes it’s something that needs to be taken more seriously.
“It’s still not where it could be,” she said.
A particular point of contention for her is Health Minister Leo Glavine’s reaction.
“He’s denying we even have a problem and that’s a big problem for me,” she said, adding she knows people who have to travel out of the country to get the help they need.
She’s been busy volunteering in the community, painting artwork (which she will be exhibiting soon in Art at Night), but she said it’s been very hard to find work, especially with her autism.
But with the support of her family, church and trusted friends, she’s determined to do what she can. She has an “adventure book” where she documents her life. In it are pictures of her helping with the autism walk and at other events, doing training at a zoo and more.
Debi said she’s proud of the way her daughter has stepped up to be willing to put her face on the fight for better mental health care.
“I’m proud because here I have an autistic daughter who is young and suffers from mental health issues and she has put herself at the forefront of this issue.”
She absolutely deserves the recognition of getting to go on this trip to Vancouver, she said.
“She doesn’t realize because to her it’s just something that she needs to do, but she deserves the recognition.”
Debi has started a Go Fund Me page www.gofundme.com/ chelsea-pettipas-autism-award. Anyone who would like to make a donation to cover the cost of her trip to Vancouver can contribute there.