I got only two submissions a while back and I haven’t been able to get to them because I got bogged down with some internship applications, and on top of it all, I got really sick a few days ago and have been bedridden since.
TL;DR: Your lowly editor is busy and sick and really sorry for neglecting the blog.
[Editor’s note: Submitted by the lovely qualityfilter. Normally I ask followers to submit their text submissions as a series of asks for me to piece back together so I can more easily attribute them back to the original author, but this post was far too long for me to torture him/her/zir like that.
I hope this helps the Canadian followers!]
Just wanted to give my experiences on the Canadian (Well specifically Ontario, healthcare is provincial, but there’s a lot of similarities between the provinces) mental health system. I was in a so-called crisis ward 4 times that collectively added up to about 3 months and in a long-term care facility as well and I’d have to encourage anyone that might be in need to go - it was really helpful. (Specifically I’m talking about Toronto East General’s Youth and Adolescent unit and the Ontario Shores hospital in Whitby.)
The nurses and CYWs are, at worst, competent and cordial and most of them are actually fairly kind and understanding. My doctors at both facilities were extremely non-judgemental and only ever wrote a prescription change after they consulted with me on it and got my approval.
At both facilities I got a room to myself complete with bed, desk, chair and closet. (In the crisis ward we even got our own washroom.) My experience with food was not spectacular, of course, but I find the hospital food to be pretty uniformly not-disgusting even if not appetizing. In the crisis ward we actually got a menu for every meal with 3 choices and you could avoid anything particularly bad. At the mental health hospital you actually had the option to prepare something else for yourself in the kitchen.
I was in Ontario Shores for what amounted to my grade 10 year and, although I didn’t get all the credits for that year of course, I was actually able to get 3 credits per semester. (Around here 4 per semester is a normal course-load.)
One of the great things about this care was that it was entirely covered by my provincial insurance, even the out-patient doctor meetings. Although the medications aren’t free once you leave hospital there are programs in place to help subsidize them if you can demonstrate need.
Although in Ontario a doctor can legally hold you in hospital against your will I never felt it was used unfairly on myself or other patients. (I had to literally try and kill myself to get a form III, which lasts two weeks the first time issued.) Neither doctors nor nurses ever tried to threaten patients with physical restraints or anything similar, in fact I only saw physical restraints used once on somebody that was being physically violent and he was out of them after 15 minutes of calming down and spent an extra 45 minutes unrestrained in the “quiet room”.
Really what I’m trying to say is that you really ought to try and get the help you need if you need it, I can’t think of a good reason not to. Employers are legally barred from judging you based on a hospital visit - and cant find out without you telling them - school might get a bit behind if you’re at that age but, as I figured, it’s better to get treatment than face school with all my symptoms. If you’re an adult you’re not going to lose your savings on treatment.
It’s worth it.
:)
I chose a mouse because they’re rather timid and disliked by the general public, analogous to our population. Also, I think mice are adorable.
I believe everyone should protest these bills because they’re absolutely broken. However, I think coming together under that sort of banner would attract questionable attention—not the kind we want at all. After all, we may be an affected group, but we are still a stigmatised group.
However, this is only my personal opinion. If anyone wants to contribute their two cents, feel free to go ahead.
Even if I have another surge of submissions, I won’t be able to process them until the weekend. So I have no choice but to declare MIM temporarily on hiatus.
Apologies for the inconvenience.
Was just about to do that.
I only knew about /r/depression and /r/ptsd, so thanks for the head’s up.
*adds to post*
Want to talk: Try a chat room!
A friend just sent me a few links that might be helpful to a lot of you here, especially since I get a lot of asks about not being able to talk to anyone else about your mental illness.
Here are some chat rooms divided by their topics
General
Anxiety
Bipolar
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Depression
Eating Disorders
Gender Identity
OCD
Phobias
PTSD
Self Harm
Teen (18 and under)
Abuse survivors
And a link list for depression, bipolar disorder, other illnesses.
