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Supports for mental health already strained

The Brandon Sun - 5/1/2021

Andrea Thomson has stared into the face of the pandemic.

Literally.

She swabs nasal passages for testing of COVID-19 for Shared Health on a casual basis since April 2020.

As a registered psychiatric nurse (RPN), Thomson is part of the COVID response unit.

She’s also an assistant professor at Brandon University in the Department of Psychiatric Nursing. She has taught theory-based courses to second-, third- and fourth-year psychiatric nursing students since August 2018.

She has seen the look on people’s faces as they enter the testing site to be tested for a virus that could potentially kill them.

She has also seen those same faces come back for re-testing as family members from the same household continue to re-infect each other.

“It can extend people’s quarantine by well over a month from a large family,” she said. “They might contract COVID at different times, and everyone’s isolation is extended and extended.”

It’s a ripple effect.

“Reducing our close contacts is difficult as it is. But it really does make sense in the long run because of the negative consequences of the quarantine.”

Those consequences played out this week in the province as stricter public health orders came down the pipe on Wednesday.

Thomson knows the new restrictions are going to impact people’s mental health. She has seen it before and written about it when Manitoba banned visitors in private homes back in December to control the virus’s spread.

“The pandemic has turned our lives upside down. It’s increased our stress. Heightened our levels of anxiety, depression and grief,” she said, adding the restrictions have increased our feelings of isolation by reducing our contacts.

Reaching into the mental health system for support may not be easy, either.

“What the pandemic has started to do is shed light on the mental health system, and it has been very difficult to navigate, probably historically,” Thomson said.

“This isn’t something new. It was very difficult to access services before. Quite often we describe the mental health system as a maze. Because it’s difficult to navigate.”

She uses the example of someone experiencing mental health issues and possibly being turned away from a specific service because they didn’t meet the criteria of that service.

“We have really great crisis services (where you can) pick up the phone and talk to a crisis support person. But to actually receive followup care and ongoing treatment to prevent additional crises is where the problem lies.”

Follow-up care could take up to six months to get an appointment from a provincially funded resource, she pointed out. However, private clinics that support employee assistance programs, private health coverage or have funding from outside non-profit sources for those who can’t afford their services, are out there.

Dan Jardine is the senior counsellor at the Counselling Centre in Brandon.

He said the centre is always busy, but they make room for people needing their counselling services.

His clients these days consist mainly of children as young as 10, teenagers, their parents, and families. What he’s seeing on the ground since the pandemic struck is an increase in anxiety and irritability.

“There’s a heightened sense of irritability and concern on the parts of the parents and the restrictions on the teens,” Jardine said.

Where’s it coming from?

He thinks the pandemic is a contributing factor.

“Kids are feeling restricted. They’re not free to just be and do their own thing with their peers.”

What otherwise may resolve itself in normal times is likely exacerbated due to the isolation and restriction of movement brought on by the need to contain the virus through public health restrictions.

“I didn’t see it last year, not to the same degree.”

And it has a snowball effect.

“All of sudden the conflict picks up speed. It becomes more of the norm of how the family deals with issues,” he said.

Jardine’s approach to resolving the conflict that brought a family to his doorstep is to help them get back to where they were before the pandemic.

“How do you express love to each other when you aren’t talking about this issue? I’m saying there are other ways to talk about the issue you bring to counselling. It doesn’t have to be in the arena of conflict.”

Heather Carew is executive director of the centre and does the initial assessment and intake.

In the early days of the pandemic, she did see an increase in counselling hours.

“There’s been a steady increase in requests in people experiencing anxiety. Anecdotally, there’s been an increase in requests from those who are younger. From late teens and early 20s,” she said.

“There’s been an increase in the number of youth who are experiencing anxiety and stress and health-care workers, too.”

The new restrictions in the province likely will make a difference in the number of people feeling exhausted from the pandemic, she pointed out.

“There is a fatigue among the population who simply want to get on with the business of their lives. They want to be able to see family members and visit other provinces. There are clients who have really suffered in isolation. They work here and their family lives in another province, who they haven’t seen for months.”

But there is no easy fix.

As Thomson said, the province has an excellent crisis line, where a caller experiencing any number of mental health challenges can pick up the phone and talk to someone.

However, it is the follow-up to these cases where a call to a crisis line is more of a band-aid solution. A lot can happen on the mental health front while waiting six months for a counselling appointment.

One option is group therapy, which starts with an educational component, Thomson said. And with the pandemic, meetings are held virtually. On the surface, it’s one option in helping people cope with their mental health issues during the pandemic.

“There is still a stigma behind mental illness,” she said. “People are reluctant to share.”

As well, connectivity to the group could be hampered by the lack of supportive electronic devices or a reliable internet connection, she pointed out.

“It’s a wonderful option, but there are still challenges,” she said. “It is a really good first step that is helping to address those wait times.”

Thomson said Manitoba has great services, but people get lost and fall through the cracks.

“The system is a maze and people get lost, and we need to do something differently because of the confusion,” she said.

“It’s a system that hasn’t worked for decades and the pandemic hasn’t helped. A system transformation cannot happen without understanding service users’ experiences. Service users need to be involved in the process to better address the barriers and improve access to services.

“There’s no quick fix or easy fix for this. The people who got lost in the maze ... we need to hear from them.”

» kkielley@brandonsun.com

Sidebar: MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS

Province of Manitoba: gov.mb.ca/covid19/bewell/index.html

Canadian Mental Health Association for Manitoba: mbwpg.cmha.ca/

Klinic Community Health: klinic.mb.ca/crisis-support/

Manitoba Suicide Prevention & Support Line (24/7)

Toll-free: 1-877-435-7170

reasontolive.ca

Klinic Crisis Line (24/7)

Phone: 204-786-8686

Toll-free: 1-888-322-3019

Sexual Assault Crisis Line (24/7)

Phone: 204-786-8631

Toll-free: 1-888-292-7565

Trafficking Hotline (24/7)

Toll-free: 1-844-333-2211

Manitoba Farm, Rural & Northern Support Services (24/7)

Toll-free: 1-866-367-3276

supportline.ca

Critical Incident Reporting and Support Line (24/7)

Phone: 204-788-8222

Toll-free: 1-800-463-1554

Worker’s Compensation Board Distress Line (24/7)

Toll-free: 1-800-719-3809

Phone: 204-786-8175

Seniors Abuse Support Line (9 a.m.5 p.m.)

Toll-free: 1-888-896-7183