Five Years Since a Critical Day One
It was an early night to bed on Tuesday, June 19, 2007. I had absolutely no more drinking to do and decided that the last day of this particular spring…
mental health
Parliament in Review – May 9, 2012
Wednesday, May 9 saw the first Committee of the Whole discussion of the Cons’ budget bill – with the opportunity for hours of direct questions about military spending giving rise…
Parliament in Review – May 8, 2012
Tuesday, May 8 saw another day of debate on the Cons’ omnibus budget legislation – and another day of general non-responsiveness from the Cons as to its actual effects. But…
Parliament in Review: May 3, 2012
Thursday, May 3 saw yet another debate over the Cons’ use of time allocation – this time respecting the omnibus budget bill which features so many radical changes that demand…
Scanned: my first post-positive lab results
I found this in a plastic-covered folder in my Rubbermaid file drawer: My physician at that time, the late Ed Kamski, ordered these tests as a baseline after giving me…
No sentence could undo the harms caused by Graham James
I join the outcry today over the sentencing of convicted serial pedophile Graham James to two years in prison for the sexual abuse of Theo Fleury and Todd Holt. Counter-intuitively…
Medical update: I could do better if ‘good enough’ wasn’t still good enough
It’s been quite some time since I had the run of tests for HIV and diabetes, in part because of my fear of the results, so today’s news was quite…
Canada’s aging prison population
First off I'd like to offer kudos to Howard Sapers, the Correctional Investigator of Canada, a true gem within our civil service .In his latest report Sapers highlights the aging…
Adventures in Depression
I swear Allie Brosh has channelled everyone who has ever suffered depression in this brilliant webcomic. Including me. Check it out by clicking on the graphic or the link. Filed…
Rest in Peace, Jamie Hubley
“I’m tired of life, really. It’s so hard, I’m sorry, I can’t take it anymore.” “I don’t want my parents to think this is their fault, either. I love my…
Parliament In Review: October 4, 2011
Tuesday, October 4 was an opposition day, featuring a motion from Bob Rae on a national suicide strategy that provoked somewhat more agreement than usual. But that doesn't mean there…
Kicking Addictions: Commentary on What It Takes and What Helps
Work on getting past addictions by setting effective, personally-valued goals, exercising discipline but tolerating lapses, accessing support, finding substitutions, distractions and adaptive strategies, and cultivating mindfulness and insight into emotions…
Mental Health Risks For Political Activists
Are social/political activists at elevated risk for certain mental health conditions and social problems?
There is no hierarchy in grief: Of Norway and Amy Winehouse
Please read this from Scott Dagostino, whose writing makes me admire the way his mind works. Being someone who might preemptively describe myself as naive (which endears me to world-wise…
Betrayed
While teens like Ashley Smith and Gleb Alfyorov with mental health issues continue to die in prisons, McGuinty closes the only long term residential treatment unit in the province that…
Three Strikes and You’re Out, and By Out, I Mean Dead
This story was plastered above the fold in yesterday’s print edition of the Toronto Star: Gleb Alfyorov thought he was going to a hospital for help. So did the judge…
Canada’s largest mental health institutions: Prisons
Decades ago recognizing that the institutionalisation of the mentally ill was cruel,unjust and counter productive, we started closing these facilities and embarked on a policy of community care.Well it appears…
Up for debate
The NDP has released a first look at the prioritized resolutions from this weekend's #vancon2011 (PDF). And while most of them may not come as too much surprise (or appear…
Bob Rae Shines Light On Mental Health In His Response To The Budget
“The essential message that I bring to the House and to the people of Canada about this budget is that it is not a budget for everyone. It is not…
Consequences in Lala Land
When I read stuff like this, I fill with despair and even fear.These men crave followers and attention so they offer cures for everything, but with next to no professional…