Seamy Underbelly, Part II
Visiting the Downtown Eastside (DTES) has churned up some contradictions for me, and resolving those contradictions requires re-thinking some questions I thought I already knew the answers to: 1) To…
mental illness
The Mad Cruelty of Stephen Harper
It has been said of Stephen Harper, by those who know him well, that he is a man incapable of feeling the pain of others.A man with no capacity for…
Guidelines for media reporting of suicide need reconsideration – Picard, Goldbloom
If the audience was expecting a debate, they may have left disappointed. Globe and Mail reporter Andre Picard and Dr. David Goldbloom, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada,…
Ashley Smith and the Cruelty of the Cons
I think this image will haunt me forever.The image of a bound, hooded, 18-year-old Ashley Smith being duct taped into a seat on a plane.Like she was some kind of…
A Nation Chock Full of Crazy People
Looking at the United States today or at least the Tea Party half of it is like sneaking into an old-time carnival Freak Show. There is a big chunk of…
The lowdown on substance use
Last night I attended a free session at our local mental health facility. It was called Getting the Low Down on Substance Use, and was presented by Michael Coughlin, a…
Think You’re Creative? No, You’re Just Sick
I’m not sure this will come as a surprise but there’s a link between creativity and mental illness. It’s no coincidence that so many great comedians, for example, are or…
Beating the Doggie Called Depression
I went for a walk the other day through the leafy lanes of The Shire, with a friend of mine who has suffered from severe depression from about this time…
There are at least a few, if not many, important people with whom I need to have my own conversation about…
…this! It’s certainly not too early to think about Mental Illness Awareness Week When I read the Ottawa Citizen article (linked above) I immediately thought, “Mom will have read that…
Ottawa Citizen outs mentally ill man
On Saturday the Ottawa Citizen ran a story called Pleas to help mentally ill son ignored, mother says. It was in Hugh Adami’s column, The Public Citizen. Complete with names…
Making James Holmes innocent: The lengths we go to to explain White killers
(Written Jun 23, 2012 and reposted on this blog). This graphic has been circulating around the internet about how James Holmes, the killer in the recent Aurora, Colorado shooting, benefits…
The Police Execution of Paul Boyd
I think this is the most disturbing video I've ever seen. Paul Boyd, a mentally ill man in Vancouver crawls towards police after being shot seven times. And is finished…