tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30710387.post115663034091618323..comments2024-03-17T19:10:13.841-07:00Comments on A Closer Look: Jody Paterson: No more stalling on addictionJody Patersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18038299584414910712noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30710387.post-61056111737970454992009-03-24T08:54:00.000-07:002009-03-24T08:54:00.000-07:00while the archie courtnall center is not perfect t...while the archie courtnall center is not perfect thank god its around beats waiting in emergency for days.<BR/><BR/>perhaps society should look at treating or "curing' mental illness other than immediatly prescribing anti-psychotic drugs en masse for all mental health symptoms. Im not a doctor but have expirienced worse mental health problems after being prescribed tonnes of different drugs than i had in the first place. peaceout i greatly appreciate the archie courntall center the food was fantastic and i loved the patio!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30710387.post-32969942649317681382007-10-13T10:15:00.000-07:002007-10-13T10:15:00.000-07:00Dear Jody,I've started reading your blog with inte...Dear Jody,<BR/>I've started reading your blog with interest. It helps. I have long searched for information and relief for my own mental illness challenges and those of my friends. Now I am determined to find ways to fight this political monster, by going around them if I have to. <BR/><BR/>Like at the Pandora Arts Collective. We were rejected by VIHA and started running the place ourselves. One of their people told me we'd never be seen as a legitimate therapeutic alternative and they'd never endorse us. To that we say: Yay! To be involved with VIHA is to make a deal with the devil in our opinion.<BR/><BR/>Our Studio is now active, run on an impossibly low budget and offering free-access to many people, some now coming to us from the shaky grounds of the Laurel House debacle and from every level and area of the Greater Victoria area.<BR/><BR/>In my darkest hours, I have been turned away from the Archie Courtnell emergency 'foyer'. Even though I was suicidal and overwhelmed I was recently told "I didn't fit their description for what a suicidal profile 'presents' like." and I was told to go home.<BR/><BR/>On another such visit, while I dozed waiting to see a psychiatrist, a male patient tried to slip his hands under my blanket and was only stopped by another patient. The staff was far too overloaded writing reports to keep a close eye on us. Did you know male and female patients are locked in to the foyer together at night with only spot checks from time to time by a completely inadequate number of staff?<BR/><BR/>A private therapist, (that I paid for on what's left of my mastercard), has said most of what I have actually been suffering from the last few months is migraines (the symptoms of which I am unfamiliar with so didn't recognize), and not entirely mental illness.<BR/><BR/>I would like to change the way they treat anxiety, depression and addictions in that hospital. If I can. I've filed a complaint about the situation but the results were unsatisfactory. I can show you the reports if you like?<BR/><BR/>I would like to meet with you and tell you my story, if you think it would help push for change in there, and maybe there are other stories from those who attend our art studio that would help. We are involved in making a documentary about the way things really are and you might be interested in hearing about that too.<BR/><BR/>I wonder what the Cortnell's would say if they knew how bad it is in there and how poor the treatment of certain types of mental illness? They way VIHA and the hospital handles 'my kind' actually makes us worse and the treatments we receive push us further into mental instability.<BR/><BR/>If they would just ask us, we could tell them easier ways to help us with far less expense and far more dignity than what's happening in there now. <BR/><BR/>By the way, thanks for all you do for so many Jody. I met you in Kamloops, we worked at the Kamloops News together, you might not remember someone from that far back! Yours has always been a strong voice for the betterment of others and I appreciate your efforts and have watched your career with interest. Keep your chin up!<BR/><BR/>Sincerely,<BR/>Pam Oliver<BR/>and The Pandora Arts Collective Societypam greyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01754859189856954892noreply@blogger.com