Broken record technique gets
medical community attention

by May Louie

This is a brief story of how the model of mental health has changed in the twenty years that I have been involved.

At the age of 14, I started to show my first signs of mental illness. I felt people were talking about me, people were making me do things and I thought they were hypnotizing me. I started taking Haldol and Cogentine at the age of 15. I took it for a short period of time, but did not continue because nothing was explained to me. I did not know the purpose of the medicine. At the age of 16, I was hospitalized. The psychiatrist did not tell me my diagnosis or how the medication worked. There was a serious lack of information given to me.

I'll jump ahead a number of years now to after my graduation and tell you about how mental health centers were in 1990. At that time, Mental Health Clubhouses had very rigid in rules and regulations. For example, you had to attend five days per week, on time - right at 9:00 AM and you had to join one of the work groups, with not remuneration. There were no consumer staff people. Feedback from consumers was minimal. I recall a typical event. The staff decided there was a need to change the clubhouse's name, so they put out a suggestion box. After the staff had looked at all of the entries, they decided to not use any of them. They picked a name of their choice.

Regarding employment at that time, I had a special needs employment counselor say to me, "Could you get a letter from your psychiatrist to tell me you are capable of working?" I felt this was an insult as I was a grade 12 graduate and had worked full time for two years.

By now, in the year 2002, the mental health system has evolved. I can see the change in the paradigm of the delivery of mental health services. Consumers, family members and mental health workers are working together to assist people who are struggling with psychosocial distress. We are also educating the public about what constitutes mental health.

For example, the Burnaby Citizen Advisory Board consists of consumers, family members and mental health workers. We have monthly meetings. One co-chair is a family member and the other co-chair is a consumer. the treasurer is a consumer. All the members of the meeting have an equal say in the allocation of the funding and the type of projects to be undertaken.

One of the modern models of clubhouses is the Burnaby Mental Wealth Society Center. The Board of Directors is made up entirely of mental health consumers. There are paid employment positions for consumers. One of the recreational workers is a consumer. When the Administrative Assistant position was posted, one of the qualifications was that you had to be a consumer. The Fundraising Coordinator is a consumer. As you can see, the Society truly revolves around consumers.

Now, I would like to say a word about working with a doctor. I feel it needs to be a partnership and that there must be good lines of communication and information. The doctor needs to explain your condition, how the medication works and, most importantly, the short term and long term side effects. If the doctor tells you to try to discontinue the medication, he or she should tell you about the possibility of the symptoms reoccurring and schedule your appointments more frequently. None of this had been explained to me when my symptoms returned.

If the doctor won't sign your disability form, request again that you need the form filled out or get a mental health advocate to assist you. If there is a problem that's unsolved, complain and complain and complain. Use the broken record technique because your health is important. Keep asking questions to get answers.

The paradigm of mental health has changed so that now consumers and family members have a say in what they need. Before, a worker might say, "Eat this apple because it's good for you. It has vitamin C, it's a fruit and it'll keep you healthy". Before, I would eat the apple. Now I can say, "No thanks. I have a toothache". Consumers are not just at the receiving end of the service, but are involved in their own treatment and have even become service providers themselves.