Archive for the ‘World News’ Category
From illness to advocacy
July 9th, 2010 | 
Author: Mental Health: Jamie de Volder, alongside mother, shares her experience battling an eating disorder.
At 5’9” and weighing a mere 85 pounds, Jamie de Volder was ready to enter a medical system that didn’t know what to do with her.
At age 16, de Volder’s future appeared bright. She was a top student and a skilled and ambitious athlete. But by the end of Grade 9, living up to the expectations of an honours student and basketball team captain became a labour of self-destruction.
“I can’t say why things took a turn for the worst. Maybe it was due to my quest to be in top shape and eat healthier. Maybe it was my low self-esteem. But whatever it was, anorexia eventually got a hold of me,” explained de Volder when she bravely took the podium as a guest speaker for the June 24 Canadian Mental Health Shuswap/Revelstoke Branch annual general meeting.
Come Grade 10, de Volder’s physical state hindered her performance during tryouts for the summer games basketball team and school team captain. She says it began to feel as though there were weights attached to her legs. She was freezing cold and tired all the time.
“I remember my sister would drive past me when I was out walking but I refused because I needed the exercise to burn off the food I had to eat. I turned from being a kind, honest person to a lying, manipulative cow for lack of a better word.”
De Volder’s denial came to an end on the day of her awards ceremony when, while getting changed, her mother Cindy Dobbe broke down in tears at the sight of her daughter’s body. She was admitted to Children’s Hospital the next day and was told if she waited longer she would have to have been wheeled in. Five months in hospital helped with de Volder’s physical recovery, but over the next year she relapsed twice and when she wanted it, de Volder found she could not get the help she needed.
“There was always a wait list with just too many people on it,” said de Volder. “It meant more to me then just that. It reinforced to me that I was worthless and even the hospital didn’t want me.”
Two years of going back and forth between a regular hospital and Children’s Hospital with little or no progress proved too much for Dobbe, who became frustrated with the B.C. medical system and its lack of resources for treating people with eating disorders.
“I was being told, ‘she’s sick, she needs to be in hospital.’ I’d say, ‘well then, put her in.’ And they’d say, ‘there’s no bed, there’s no room for her,’” explained Dobbe, who shared the podium with her daughter at the AGM.
The next move for Dobbe was to take a mortgage out on the family home in order to send de Volder for specialized treatment in Arizona. While there, Dobbe made the acquaintance of other parents and the support group the developed later evolved into The Looking Glass Foundation.
“We are parents, friends and individuals who know the fear of living with a child suffering from an eating disorder,” states the Foundation on its website. “We believe that the treatment available in Canada is not enough and have joined together to create an intensive treatment center for adolescents.”
The Foundation will soon open the Woodstone Treatment Facility. Located on nine acres on Galiano Island, the facility is the nation’s first treatment centre for children suffering with eating disorders.
“I do believe people do suffer with the illness and they don’t choose this one,” said Dobbe. “We started Looking Glass because treatment options available to eating disorder patients in B.C. were, and still are limited. In fact, many still leave the country, many are left untreated, and many just receive no care at all.”
Though de Volder made huge strides in overcoming her eating disorder, she says she survives day by day. She has married and is now a registered nurse, working in the adolescent psychiatry with the B.C. Children’s Hospital. And though anorexia took away her dreams of youth, she considers herself lucky. She recalls one friend suffering with bulimia who sewed her lips shut, and another who choked on a toothbrush while trying to make herself purge. De Volder credits her parents for their unwavering support, despite the “extreme stress and hardships” she put them through.
Dobbe told the audience the Looking Glass Foundation would be able to provide help for the formation of a local support groups, in addition to online support groups provided through their website (http://lookingglass.umeetsupport.com/register/).
Counseling is also available through the Salmon Arm Health Unit, and eating disorder toolkits are available through the local Canadian Mental Health Branch at 433 Hudson Avenue.
Posted in 
Youth lock-ups blasted
Just around the corner from the Eaton Centre, a psychiatric facility is locking up youngsters who don’t belong in secure custody, provincial documents reveal.
In one case, a 15-year-old girl’s “moderately eccentric interests” in origami and the study of bugs were cited by a psychiatrist at Youthdale Treatment Centre as examples of a possible mental disorder. Another teen’s admission of having unprotected sex was taken as evidence of a suicide wish because such behaviour could lead to AIDS.
“Secure treatment is not a placement substitute for child welfare,” a provincial appeal board ruled in ordering the release of a 14-year-old boy with a learning disability and limited school supports.
A Toronto Star review of 32 cases over the past two years where a youth formally appealed the lock-up decision found that nearly half (14) were overturned after an emergency hearing by the Ontario Child and Family Services Review Board. Most of these children were ordered released on the grounds they didn’t even have a mental disorder.
Youthdale is a non-profit community agency. Last year, it received $11 million in funding from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. In addition to the secure treatment unit and a less restrictive inpatient program downtown that has no maximum length of stay, Youthdale operates four group homes in the Annex, one home in Aurora and three cabins at a remote wilderness setting near Parry Sound for children with mental health issues. The centre also runs a 24-hour telephone crisis line, which is often the first step toward getting a child admitted.
With consent from a legal guardian — often children’s aid — youth 16 years and younger can be held in Youthdale’s secure unit for up to 30 days where they may receive mood-altering medications. Disruptive behaviour may be managed with chemical injections as well as mechanical and physical restraints.
Paul Allen, Youthdale’s clinical director, said a review of his agency’s policies and practices, led by two psychiatrists in response to complaints from former patients and parents, is underway. A report is expected later this summer.
“The challenge of balancing a child’s rights and needs for treatment is a complicated matter,” Allen said.
To lock up a child, provincial law states that a facility must satisfy five criteria. It must demonstrate the child has a mental disorder; poses a substantial threat to himself or others; that secure custody would prevent the child from causing serious bodily harm to himself or others; that the facility offers appropriate treatment for the child’s mental disorder and that there are no less restrictive method available.
A “mental disorder” is defined by the Child and Family Services Act as “a substantial disorder of emotional process, thought or cognition, which grossly impairs a person’s capacity to make reasoned judgments.”
Once committed, the child meets with a provincial youth advocate who informs him he is allowed to appeal his secure placement. In 2009, 117 youth were admitted to the secure floor for 30 days. Appeals were filed by 30 youth, but 19 withdrew their applications before the hearing. Of the remaining 11, seven were ordered released.
The girl with the “moderately eccentric interest” in the study of bugs appealed in December 2008. The board ruled the 15-year-old, gifted student’s behaviour — pouring flour on the floor and getting into physical confrontations with her mother — was the result of teen-parent conflict and was not caused by a mental disorder.
In the case of the girl who admitted to having unprotected sex, Youthdale claimed the teen refused to take birth control pills, which indicated a “gross impairment to make reasoned decisions.”
The board’s decision cited evidence that the child had discussed birth control with a doctor and that the teen’s mother threw out sample pills and refused to fill the prescription. The board also took issue with a psychiatrist’s suggestion that the teen’s ability to make reasoned judgments was impaired because she took Prozac only when she needed to feel better.
“This is typical of even adult patients taking medication,” the board wrote in its decision. “To suggest that a child should be admitted to a treatment centre because of this is unrealistic.”
Review board chair Suzanne Gilbert, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law and youth protection, told the Star she would not comment on individual cases. The board, which must rule within five days of receiving an application, has members with backgrounds in education, law, social services and mental health.
“To lock a child in a secure area is a very serious decision,” she said. Gilbert noted that of the three Ontario facilities with secure treatment units, all but one of the recent appeals have come from Youthdale.
Youthdale’s headquarters is a four-storey, tan brick building on Victoria St. A sleep research clinic and gymnasium occupy the basement. There are as many as 20 children occupying beds in rooms on the upper two floors at any given time. Ten beds are reserved for children who present emotional and behavioral issues but no imminent risk of harm to themselves or others. The locked fourth floor is set aside for up to 10 children considered at immediate risk of seriously hurting themselves or others.
Call for early care intervention
By Angela Harrison
BBC News correspondent
Early intervention is best, the researchers said
Taking vulnerable children into care earlier could save on emotional and financial costs, a study suggests.
Delays in removing such children from their families are linked with poor mental health and behaviour, say researchers from the Demos think tank.
The report, funded by Barnardo’s, says the care system should be de-stigmatised and seen positively.
It says the state can pay nearly £33,000 more per child per year if they have received poor care.
The research involved statistical analysis as well as interviews with foster parents, children in care and young people who had been in care.
It compared two extreme hypothetical “care journeys” and found that the annual costs to children’s services could be up to twice as much for a child who had experienced a lot of upheaval and change.
Care does make things better and can and does create stable, nurturing environments for children
Martin Narey chief executive, Barnardo’s
And it also looked at the costs to the state from when a child left care to the age of 30 and found they could be up to five times higher if a child had received poor support.
“This demonstrates that if care is used earlier and more effectively it becomes a means of real cost avoidance,” the researchers said.
Celia Hannon, one of the authors of the report, said: “Government must urgently address the factors that affect a child’s experience of being in care.
“That means focusing more on working with families at an earlier stage and minimising the instability resulting from indecision and lengthy processes.”
The report says the state should be recognised as being capable of acting as a “parallel parent” and the care system should be de-stigmatised and seen as a “positive form of family support”.
And tougher guidance should be given so there were fewer “failed family reunifications”, which the researchers say can damage children’s mental health.
The authors call for foster carers to have training about mental health so they can support troubled children. They should also get time away from the children.
They say they found an association between a poor, unstable “care journey” and poorer mental health and educational achievement, but did not have the long-term data to try to establish causal link.
Martin Narey, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: “Many believe that care is always second best to the care provided by parents. Contrary to popular belief, and for all its inadequacies, care does make things better and can and does create stable, nurturing environments for children.
“We must urgently adopt a more pro-active and positive use of care, one where care is used earlier and more effectively so it becomes a means of real cost avoidance.”
Applications for children to be taken into care have risen since November 2008, when two men were found guilty of causing the death of toddler Peter Connelly, identified at the time as Baby P.
The 17-month-old died from injuries including a broken back, despite being on the at risk register and being seen by social workers and other professionals on 60 separate occasions.
His mother, her boyfriend and their lodger were all jailed over his death.
According to Cafcass, the children’s court advisory service in England, 8,524 applications for children to be taken into care were made in 2009 compared with 5,968 in 2008.
“From a happy guy to a zombie consumed by the oil spill” : The Pump Handle
It’s appropriate for BP to dedicate $20 billion to an escrow fund for oil-spill claims, and I hope the fund’s independent administration will allow for quick payment of claims. Nicholas Beaudrot points out that the fund’s structure means BP has an incentive to resolve claims quickly – in contrast to the 20 years that it took ExxonMobil to pay claims related to the Valdez oil spill.
Though the process of compensating financial losses will be complicated, it’s far easier to quantify lost income than to tally the costs to Gulf residents’ mental health. The New York Times’ Mireya Navarro focuses on the feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, and depression many Gulf workers from the fishing industry experience as they’re unable to do their jobs.
Navarro notes that local estimates suggest as many as one-third of Louisiana’s 12,400 fishermen are Vietnamese; in addition to the difficulty of moving to a new country and, in some cases, losing their homes to Hurricane Katrina, they now don’t know how long it will be before they can start fishing again. Hong Le, 58, can no longer send money to his wife and children in Vietnam, and he told Navarro that he’s now “surviving on handouts after a lifetime of self-sufficiency.”
Community groups are trying to address Gulf residents’ psychological difficulties along with their financial ones.
via “From a happy guy to a zombie consumed by the oil spill” : The Pump Handle.
World Cup matches may boost your mental health – USATODAY.com
By Jenifer Goodwin, HealthDay
If you couldn’t wait to watch the U.S. soccer team take on Slovenia in Friday’s World Cup match, know that being an avid sports fan may be more than just a lot of fun.
Scientists have shown that fans who feel personally invested in a team or, better yet, who attend games and cheer along with like-minded fans, reap the mental health benefits that come from a feeling of social connectedness.
“The main thing that people achieve via sports fanship is a sense of belongingness, or connectedness, with others,” said Edward Hirt, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University. “Sharing a common allegiance with others bonds people together in a special way. We can relate to others who share fanship with our team and feel a camaraderie with them that transcends ourselves.”
That’s a feeling Monty Rodrigues knows well. The New Hampshire-based financial analyst has season tickets for the New England Revolution soccer club. As president of the Midnight Riders, the team’s fan club, he organizes pregame tailgates and group activities that have raised $25,000 for charitable causes.
Along with friends he’s made through the World Cup, he was in South Africa to watch the United States tie England on Saturday.
“In soccer, the fans are singing, drumming, jumping around. You feel like you’re a part of the team,” Rodrigues said. “I’ve met so many good friends through being a soccer fan. Some I see at Revolution games. Some I see at the World Cup. We’ll pick a bar to meet up in, have a beer and celebrate friendships made because of the sport itself.”
via World Cup matches may boost your mental health – USATODAY.com.
30 million young Chinese plagued by mental disorders
BEIJING – Nearly one in ten young Chinese under the age of 17 have some sort of mental disorders, a recent survey suggests.
The Beijing Anding Hospital and the Chinese Medical Association hosted an international conference about the mental health of young people on Sunday.
At the meeting, Chinese scholars said that at least 30 million minors in China are plagued with mental disorders or behavior problems.
By the year 2007, China had 341 million minors, accounting for 26 percent of the country’s total population.
“The number 30 million is based on regional researches in recent years. Since the mental health of children must have worsened over time, the real number could be even higher,” said Cui Yonghua, a child psychiatrist with the Beijing Anding Hospital.
According to Cui, China has not carried out any nationwide survey on mental problems among children, but most experts agree with the estimation of 30 million.
“China is facing a severe challenge in terms of psychological health of children, which embodies in phenomenon such as unreasonable usage of Internet and mental issues of children who lag behind,” said Chen Zhu, head of the Ministry of Health.
Two weeks ago, five high school students reportedly tried to relieve the pressure of studies by racing cars on the road in Yantai, Shandong province.
Last Friday morning in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, a high school senior beat the seat on a bus to ease his tension of the coming College Entrance Examination and scared other passengers.
According to a recent survey in Heilongjiang province, 96 percent primary school students don’t get enough sleep as they are overburdened with schoolwork and are said to start having love affairs as early as 12 years old.
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