The Athenaeum

Tag: mental illness

  • Research Feature: Katie Campeau

    Research Feature: Katie Campeau

    In my undergraduate research, I created and distributed a survey for my honours thesis in Acadia’s sociology program. In it, I questioned how students felt about Acadia’s student counselling services. More specifically, I sought to understand whether students felt this service provided adequate treatment. My findings concluded that the counselling services were created for students with minor to moderate mental health issues. In my open-ended question, students with eating disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Bipolar Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and psychotic disorders wrote that the counselling services were not designed to treat their severe mental illnesses. As a result, many of these students either spent a considerable amount of money to seek treatment off campus or received no treatment at all.

    I’m not suggesting that this service wasn’t successful in meeting other students’ needs—the service is designed for students who face minor to moderate mental health problems; stress from a large academic workload, relationship issues, and adjusting to new responsibilities associated with being a university student. In fact, I was informed by the head of the counselling services that their treatment is designed to meet the needs of the majority of students, and that the majority of students do not have severe mental illnesses. While this is true, I still couldn’t help but feel affronted by this statement. I am an individual with a severe mental illness. I am a part of the minority that the services exclude. Am I not important? Are the opinions and work of individuals with severe mental illnesses not a valuable contribution?

    This line of questioning led me to question how we, as a society, conceptualize severe mental illness. More importantly, I questioned how individuals in power define severe mental illness, and what these definitions mean for individuals living with them. This focus on power and definitions led to my interest in mental health policy, and more specifically how severe mental illness fits into various levels of government policies. My research questions are: How do Nova Scotia policy makers define severe mental illness? How do definitions of severe mental illness influence the creation and implementation of mental health policies? I am particularly interested in how the provincial government includes, or fails to include, the needs of individuals whose mental health issues are severe and debilitating in their day-to-day life. Furthermore, I want to understand how the provincial government defines severe mental illness when compared to minor and moderate mental health issues, and how this impacts their policies. I intend to explore these questions using qualitative methods, which include conducting an Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) of Nova Scotia’s three most current mental health strategies, and a section of legislation entitled Bill 109—the Mental Health Act. I will also interview fifteen individuals who work as policy makers, mental health professionals, and members of mental health Non-Profit Organizations (NGOs). Once all of my data is collected and analyzed, my goal is to define my thesis in April of 2020.

    As a graduate student in sociology, I have had to defend my sociological study of severe mental illness. I often get asked why I didn’t pursue a degree in psychology. Here is my answer to curious readers: mental health and illness is a sociological issue. I am not interested in studying mental health and illness through pathology and neuroscience. I want to understand how severe mental illness is socially constructed and understood across society. Individuals with severe mental illness were perceived as “deviant” and “crazy” in the 1950’s, during the age of the “asylum”. Today, on the other hand, we openly discuss mental health and illness as a universal issue during events like Bell Let’s Talk. I am interested in how our society’s conception of mental health and mental illness is shifting, and how this shift is reflected in health policy. This research is important because individuals with severe mental illness are a vulnerable population and are at times overlooked due to their small numbers. It is important to ensure that their needs are being met.

     

  • Research Feature: The Well Sibling Experience

    Research Feature: The Well Sibling Experience

    Siblings play a major role in our lives. For many people, they’re our first friends and our first enemies. They help to shape who we are as people for better or for worse, and often act as supporters during challenging times. However, when one of the siblings has a mental illness, the relationship between siblings can be drastically altered. Despite the impact that mental illness has on sibling relations and on other siblings in the household, there is little research or understanding of the unique experiences of these ‘well siblings’. It is for this reason that my honours research is focused on the narratives of the siblings of persons with mental illness.

    The research that does exist on the topic of ‘well siblings’ is rather limited and focused primarily on quantitative data. Although there is certainly value in knowing statistics around well siblings, they don’t quite capture the stories behind the numbers. So, to address this gap, this exploratory research was started, and data was gathered through a combination of one-on-one qualitative interviews and photo-narratives with five siblings of persons with mental illness. Through the stories shared by the siblings, it became clear that their experiences are incredibly unique and heavily influenced by their own lives, personalities, and circumstances. Therefore, telling their stories and building understanding is so vital.

    Nearly all of the participants expressed frustration and feelings of hurt because of the way their sibling interacts with them. This was challenging for them, as they had reported having a positive relationship with their sibling before the onset of their symptoms. When asked about their relationship, three of the siblings shared that they felt that they had, in a sense, lost their sibling because their current personality was so different from the person they knew before the onset of their symptoms. Despite any challenges the participants had with their siblings, they were still concerned about them and expressed fear for their well being.

    Although the participants do not currently identify as being a ‘well sibling’, their responses did indicate that they and their families tend to put them a well sibling role. For some, this meant having their mental health overlooked because they were perceived as being well in comparison to their sibling. For others, this meant trying to alleviate the challenges their parents were dealing with by withholding their own struggles and acting well or changing behavior to help accommodate their families’ needs.

    Although the research was not designed to focus on the challenges that the participants experienced, their hurt and frustration came out frequently in their responses. For the majority of the participants, anger and frustration played a significant role in their experience as a ‘well sibling’. In one participant’s case, this was anger directed towards the mental healthcare systems and the way that they had let her brother down. For most, the anger was directed towards the hurt their siblings had put them through and at their parents’ previous inattention to their emotional needs. Despite these challenges, each of the participants found various ways to cope with their experiences.

    Of course, the experiences of the siblings were not all negative. Every participant regularly showed empathy and understanding towards their sibling and towards others as well. They shared how they had learnt through their sibling not to judge others, in addition to strategies for helping to support those around them. Each of the participants noted various ways in which their mental health literacy had grown because of their experience and the value that this had brought them and others.

    While stories on their own are an incredibly valuable thing, it’s also important to consider what lessons can be learnt by centering these stories in research. By gaining better insight into the experiences of well siblings, those who work in the mental health field are better able to provide services that support the families of the person with mental illness, as well as the person themselves. These stories also highlight the importance of peer or family-based supports and the challenges that come with offering these types of informal supports. More importantly, research like this creates a space where the voices of siblings can be heard, something that is too uncommon in the mental health community.

    Sibling relationships are complicated at the best of times, and the experiences of well siblings are no exception. The stories heard through this research were ones of resilience, hope, fear, pain, and growth. They are stories that show the importance of siblings in shaping who we are and what we bring to those around us. With that, I would like to conclude by saying thank you to the participants of this study for sharing a part of yourselves with others.

  • Acadia Mental Health Recap – A Year in Review

    Acadia Mental Health Recap – A Year in Review

    While 1 in 5 may face a mental illness, 5 in 5 have mental health. That’s right everyone, just like physical health, mental health can be cared for, improved, and supported. Here in Wolfville, Acadia Mental Health works diligently to raise awareness and offer support to all the students on campus.

    Acadia Mental Health considers their weekly meetings vital to their work on campus. The team meets regularly during the year and weekly when event weeks are coming up. These weekly meetings have acted as a way for students who are passionate or interested in Mental Health on Campus to meet like-minded peers, get to know each other, and work together for a common cause. Janet Aucoin, the Acadia Mental Health Coordinator, says that the meetings are about raising awareness in fun ways around campus and creating a sense of community within Acadia Mental Health. These meetings often consist of brainstorming and planning sessions for the various events as well as a game or two at the end so everyone can get to know each other.

    When the Mental Health Weeks and Chill Weeks are approaching, they kick into full gear. They hold events, campaigns, giveaways and more around campus. According to Janet, the goal of the Mental Health and Chill Weeks are to, “…try and bring resources directly to the students through some of our events and campaigns. We also try and break down the barriers that may be preventing students from accessing resources”.

    The first Mental Health Week of the 2015/2016 Academic year started off on a rough note after the Monday Movie night was cancelled, as was the week’s bonfire. Despite the setbacks they continued with several more events. The team was aware of the importance of physical health to one’s mental health, so they planned an active Workout Wednesday. Those who participated met down at the Athletic Complex to go for a run with Rick Metta around the Dykes. Therapeutic Thursday was the biggest event of the week with Break the Silence End the Stigma, My Wellness, the resource center, and Get Real all teaming up with Acadia Mental Health to hold the “I Define Me “campaign. Thanks to Break the Silence End the Stigma this event was held in the BAC where students were able to stop by to write what mental health and mental illness meant to them. They then had the option to hold up their sign and pose with it in a photograph. On top of this, there was information about resources on campus, as well as pins, bracelets, and information on My Wellness and Get Real. This appeared to be the highlight of the week and was met positively by the students who participated. It even received a wagging tail from Figgy, the school’s furry friend from Acadia Paws. The week then concluded with Foodie Friday, where Acadia Mental Health members were up bright and early handing out hot chocolate to lift the spirits of those facing their midterms.

    For the next month or so Acadia Mental Health continued to grow as a community as they planned and prepared for their next major event, Chill Week. The Chill Weeks were designed with the hopes of giving students moments in their hectic final weeks of the semester, a small smile, or a moment to pause and relax. The week before Chill Week the Acadia Mental Health all sat down to music and put together one thousand Chill Kits for the students of Acadia. These were then handed out on the Monday alongside the Break the Silence End the Stigma’s T-Shirt campaign. The Chill Kits included many of their classic items as well as new ones such as; chocolate, condoms, tea, earplugs, coupons, information on campus resources and the occasional post it notes pad from CMHA. There that day with Break the Silence End the Stigma and Acadia Mental Health was the Annapolis Valley branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, who provided information on services in the Valley. Throughout the day, they also had a Hammock Room in the SUB where students could go and take a break or a nap in one of the Hammocks to chill out during the day. The next day, the Pause Squad came to the library to give the students a fun and furry way to de-stress – that’s right, they brought dogs. That evening Acadia Mental Health held a movie night where they played Inside Out where a grand total of 105 people showed up – a huge success. The movie was, according to them, a fun way to get people talking about their mental health while enjoying the relaxing light-heartedness of a Pixar film. On Wednesday, the Pause Squad once again greeted the students who were studying away in the library. Earlier that evening the Acadia Mental Health held an “Espresso” Yourself Coffee House, where students were encouraged to come and perform or listen to others and to take a break from the long week of studying. Thursday the Pause Squad returned for their final visit of the week, and the group hosted an Improv Night in the SUB to give the students a well-deserved laugh. Lastly, Friday was a Pyjama day to raise awareness about mental health and mental illness on campus. They said that it was not only a fun way to try and get the people talking about mental health, but it also raised awareness around some of the challenges those struggling with their mental health face.

    This past January, Acadia Mental Health held their second Mental Health Week of the academic year. After sitting down and discussing ideas at meetings, playing a bonding game or two, and creating plans for the events, they had their next major week laid out. Monday kicked it off with a popcorn and move night featuring ‘The Perks of Being a Wall Flower.” On Tuesday, Acadia Mental Health decided to focus on an informational event where they held a peer support education night with tea. The group brought in counsellors from the Student Resource Center to help those who attended learn about what it means to offer peer support, how you can help a friend, as well as understanding where one’s limits are in providing support. The event began a presentation and concluded with interactive discussions amongst the group. On Wednesday, Acadia Mental Health held a Twitter Party in the Peer Support Lounge for Bell Let’s Talk Day. Students from around campus were encouraged to hang out, enjoy some food and music, and Tweet with the hashtag #BellLet’sTalk. For Thursday’s event they decided to give the students a fun way to relax and enjoy some homemade sweets with a baking and board game night. They held the event in the Chapel’s Basement where Students could drop by to enjoy some fresh baking while playing a number of board games. Lastly, the week concluded with a Free Skate and Hot Chocolate down at the Ice Rink. The event was to promote again the importance of physical health to one’s mental health and to bring together students for an enjoyable break from their work.

    While some events that Acadia Mental Health has put on have faired better than others these past seven months, their work and planning have lead to the execution of not one, but three fun-filled weeks for the Students of Acadia. Some of the events have kept their focus on creating enjoyable ways for the students to destress; others have encouraged education around student mental health here at Acadia. No matter what the event was, Acadia Mental Health tried to ensure that they reached out directly to students in ways that they felt would help them the most. With the next Chill Week coming up quickly, the Students of Acadia can be assured that Acadia Mental Health is focused on providing them yet another eventful week.

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