Canadian Mutts Rights to Healthly Life VS Choice to be Sick

The onset of mental illness most often occurs in the age group 15-25. While the child is under the age of 19 parents have guardianship and if this child was hospitalized, parents can request a ‘condition of release.’ This document is a very powerful tool , giving parents and Doctors the right to admit to hospital of intervene if negative symptoms appear or if non compliant issues arise.

Now this ‘condition of release’, or some call it ’extended hospitalization conditions’, this is like a probation clause. The problem is this information isn’t explained or given to loved ones, who care for mentally ill after release from hospital, nor is it used in very case. My daughter was under age— so not needed, because we had guardianship.

For over three years, our daughter was compliant and did everything required to support a positive healthy healing life style. Before she turned 19 no one discussed the other clause which is a legalized document, that basically stated ‘if said person is showing signs of stress and negative symptom, caregivers have the right to step in and demand treatment’. Baring in mind doctor approval is still required, which is harder than it seems.

The reason the legalized Guardianship wasn’t discussed– basically no one, even myself thought this would be an issue, and secondly she was NEVER consider to have a sane mind for this document to stand up in court. So we were left without any rights, to kept her healthy and on the road to recovery. When all else has failed, then hospitalization is considered. Seeking hospitalization for a person with mental illness is a very desperate act and the last resource.

19 – 25 Children – because for many their mind broke down in adolescence, so how can a healing mind mature into adulthood? But Canadian Law states, 19 is adult ,and a person can decide to do things even if it places a person in endangerment. Canadian Law states, that a 19-year-old ,who professionals consider not sane enough to give over guardianship legally, can under the Canadian law make adult decisions? Does this make sense? Is there not a serious lapses of government legislation here?

Today in Canada, we don’t have the human right to decide to ride a bike without helmet this law made to protect from injury. We don’t have the human right to smoke in public places or now outside in front of businesses this law made to protect health issue. We don’t have the human right to talk on cell phones while driving – law made to protect from unnecessary accidents. So why can’t the government make laws to protect the mentally ill’s right to be a healthy person?

I’m only asking Government to make policies, procedures, and legislation changes that will save us money. Legalizing ” The Ulysses Agreement” could protect our mentally ill, while maintaining human rights. Pro active treatment, preventative treatment, to protect and save lives. Write your local MLA’s, to bring this issue to BC government. Without action we are harming young lives with future potential.

Mutt Wants To Take a Bite Out of Government Cruelty

I wrote the BC Minister of Housing, Mr Rich Coleman, in April 19 2010. To complain about the policies implemented to maintain social obedience in the housing projects.

Social behaviour, non compliance and criminal activity. While I agree with minister that no one should have to live with these issues. But many families live with it everyday. Turning a blind eye to the problem doesn’t fix it, and policies only add burden of discrimination to the chronic mentally ill people of our society.

There is two reasons why the chronic mentally ill have social behaviour issue. Negative symptoms, are behavioural issues: mood swings, anti-sociable,odd behaviour, hygiene, and dress, mumbling to themselves, even yelling, then lastly aggressive reactions. Medication even taken regularly can’t remove some of these symptoms. Medication, proper sleep, food and adequate housing all used in combination with doctor and clinician’s supervision will dramatically reduce these negative symptoms along with time. Think of a person with cancer, they need surgery, medication, chemo therapy, radiation and proper personal care, but even with all this some cases take years of treatment. This same treatment is needed with chronic mentally ill or major psychosis.

Negative symptoms create a spiral effect lets just use one example, person with anxiety. Anxiety causes a person to have an overactive mind, that is very noisy and impossible to shut off. So you had a stressful day, go to bed and can’t sleep, so tomorrow your day is foggy and you have a hard time processing things. But what if in your foggy mind you forget to take your pills, which help you clam down, moods and help you sleep, so now for two nights you haven’t got any sleep. Can you see the downward spiral, never ending spin until you crash.

Now imagine if a sever chronic mental illness in this downward spin. No it isn’t pretty and it takes months to correct with supervision, now add that person is aggressive and non-compliant. There are no laws regarding this non-complaint. Then this person is label aggressive, violent or maybe even charged with assault. Who’s fault is this? The mentally ill? As a family member I know how hard it is to seek medical treatment, or hospitalization for this deterioration.

A family in Kamloops, had their son placed in foster care at a young age because of mental illness related problems. This boy remained in care until 19, then found himself homeless. His parents agreed he could stay until they found a place for him. Now what this poor family didn’t know was his past violent behavior would disqualify him for any social housing. During the process of finding housing for their mentally ill son, Children’s Ministry came in and removed 3 younger children from house.

Government’s double standard, you are unsafe to younger children in home, but won’t hospitalize you? You are dangerous for my workers so I have to place policies to protect them, but we won’t place you in care?

Government can see the Mental Health Law not working , or why else the need for these policies and action. Government’s passiveness to correct a flawed Mental Health Act Law, that is largely outdated, and not pro-active, is a very cruel unjust way of treating stuffing families with mentally illness.

The Bark of Hope- Pro-Active Treatment Plan

All professionals and research around mental illness and additions agree that early intervention is the best course of treatment, to ensure quicker recovery time, to limit the damage cause and to prevent an chronic mental illness. Despite this evidence there is no proactive health plan of action for a mentally ill patient.

This proactive plan should be legislated in the Mental Illness Act, if not also made into a National policy. A proactive plan, would include all parties surrounding the mentally ill patient; doctors, psychologists, health clinicians, school officials and teachers, police and the primary caregivers. The mentally ill patient would participate in the whole process of developing their personalized Pro active plan. It should be legalized document that all parties should adhere to, and could be amended or rewritten as a patient progresses in recovery.

A proactive plan would ensure that when a patient is deteriorating or in a major crisis, health officials, police and caregivers can have a course of action to follow. This course of action would eliminate many problems the mentally ill face when seeking treatment for a crisis. It would eliminate the police from using the criminal code in order to seek treatment for mentally ill person that has not received adequate treatment from health authorities.

One only has to read it the Vancouver police report lost in transition to see the numerous problems in getting adequate help for the mentally ill. In the case of Cory, from the Vancouver police report, it is clear to see that he fooled his doctors and clinicians into believing everything was all right. But the truth of the matter was totally opposite, only Cory’s mother wasn’t fooled. She like a lot of other caregivers was powerless in seeking out the proper treatment for her son.

In the case of Tyler of BC, a proactive treatment might have saved his life. Tyler went to emergency room complaining he was thinking about killing himself. The Hospital released Tyler 48 hrs later, without calling his family, placed him on a bus. Tyler 23 years old didn’t make it home, sadly he took his own life.

In the case of Nichole my daughter, I desperately need a proactive plan, so that her health care providers, and her father and I , maybe able to avert a second psychotic break down. This second break down, could potentially leave our daughter’s mind in predominate damaged state. Our young 19 year old daughter could be lost to her mental illness