Family involvement a part of recovery

Re: “Time for a new approach to mental health issues,” commentary, Oct. 3.

Readers whose family members have lived experience with mental illness (about a quarter of Victoria’s population), will applaud Bruce Williams, the CEO of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, on his commentary — particularly in his statement that mental health is at the front of the issues that we see on our streets.

However, a question is also raised here: If all levels of society are coming to agreement on the nature of its basic problem, why is it that progress towards a solution is so slow in coming?

Possibly it is that the chain of circumstances that connect the parties involved has a weak link.

Possibly a clue to this might be found further along in Williams’ commentary, where he states that “People asking for urgent help for mental health challenges must have access to treatment immediately.”

Although this is true, unfortunately, when the brain is not working well, an ill person can see those who provide treatment, and police, and their family as the enemy. Knowing this, the worst part of society offers friendship and but instead preys on them.

Families are often the only ones that provide a permanent presence through a changing world of social services. We often are the ones who call the rest of the chain in, until that wonderful day of recovery, and guides the formerly ill person through life’s complexities.

Families agree that in serious cases a need exists for confinement to which Williams refers in his article, but until the role of family involvement is better seen as a strong link in the recovery chain, it seems premature to make it the final point of a discussion.

D. Murray Galbraith

Past President, Schizophrenia Society of Canada Member, Vancouver Island Mental Health Recovery Partners