For many, having a chance for a successful life means leaving their homes and moving elsewhere – for better education and more job prospects
In communities across Canada – and elsewhere in the world – young people are determined to escape, even if it means committing suicide. It’s a crisis that can be avoided. This summer, CBC Radio reported “yet another spate of suicides” in Attawapiskat, in northern Ontario. The First Nation was briefly famous in 2012 when then-chief…
Are the profits from government sponsored gambling worth the cost in human lives, broken relationships and misery?
Since the early 1990s permanent casinos have been springing up in communities all across Canada. Our government has relaxed its views on gambling and made it much more accessible to adults everywhere. In more recent years this has expanded to include government-run online gambling portals as well. With this increase in availability has come an…
Further research is needed to discover all the genetic and environmental factors involved in depression
For many years, researchers have suspected the existence of specific genes that make certain individuals more susceptible to depression than others. The suspicion arose when it became obvious through observation that some people seem to be more sensitive to stress than others and some develop depression regardless of the events in their lives. There are…
As many as 90% of people who commit suicide experience depression, substance abuse or other mental health disorders
Suicide is the darkest and most tragic face of mental illness – but we can reach out and help. When a person cuts his or her own life short out of desperation to end mental and emotional suffering, there is little that can comfort families and loved ones. One in 25 Canadians will attempt suicide during their…
First Nations children are denied the same funding for health care, social services and education as non-Indigenous kids
By Jane Cordy and Raymonde Gagné National Child Day, which commemorates the adoption of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, has come and gone for another year, but Canada cannot celebrate much progress. Yes, the federal government has established a Poverty Reduction Strategy; there is a Youth Council to advise the prime…
Connie Jakab of Movement with a Message talks about addressing mental wellness concerns at home and in the workplace
Connie Jakab is a mental health speaker and owner of Movement with a Message. Tell me what Movement with a Message is all about? Jakab: Movement With A Message is about building community, courage and compassion in our society. We do this through school workshops, mental health presentations with our National Hope Talks division (nationalhopetalks.com),…
Publicly funding comprehensive treatment for depression is cost-effective
Headlines tell us in detail about the mental health struggles of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain before their deaths by suicide. But what too often goes untold are the stories of thousands of people who die by suicide every year in Canada – our friends, relatives, colleagues and neighbours. What’s also not well documented is…
Indigenous teenagers around the world face problems they think are insurmountable. But there are solutions
The United Nations consistently includes New Zealand in its list of the happiest countries on the planet. Yet in the midst of all this happiness there’s very deep unhappiness: New Zealand’s teenage suicide rate is now the worst in the world. How can this profoundly unsettling anomaly be explained? The answer becomes apparent when the…
If you are depressed you should not procrastinate and you should not settle for partial treatment
In the fight against depression, time is the enemy. Early intervention is critical when treating this chronic disorder and it often determines the success of treatment. What many people are unaware of is that depression can be a progressive disorder that gets worse as time goes on. Not only does the person experience more severe…
If you want technology as a friend, learn its values, side effects and track record. Particularly when discussing issues like medical aid in dying
“An obsession with ‘present mindedness’ wipes out concerns about past or future.” – Harold Innis I count myself lucky to have been born when death was still pretty much a mystery, more the prerogative of poets and other artists, philosophers and religious teachers than of scientists and doctors. I grew up surrounded by death. I…
In communities across Canada – and elsewhere in the world – young people are determined to escape, even if it means committing suicide. It’s a crisis that can be avoided. This summer, CBC Radio reported “yet another spate of suicides” in Attawapiskat, in northern Ontario. The First Nation was briefly famous in 2012 when then-chief…
