home for the holidays

Its not that easy...

Living with a mental illness isn’t easy. From mood swings to eating disorders, it could cause a very uncomfortable life style. I was diagnosed with depression about two years ago after an incident that I very much regret. It takes a great toll on me knowing I put people I care about in danger because of my mental illness. It’s hard to keep myself going most days without a little push and motivation from my boyfriend, but he helps as much as he can. I am getting professional help, but I still find it difficult to ask for help, because of the way I was raised.



Getting support can be difficult for someone with a mental illness. “Barriers to receiving adequate support occurred through the loss of supportive others, either recent or past” (Chernomas, Clarke & Marchinko, 2008). Some of these loses could include a death of a loved one or an end to a love relationship. With the loss of support, women had to fend for themselves, often giving up custody of their child if they had one. Already living in poverty, with no support or help of any kind, these women end up living a lonely life. “Lack of safe, affordable, housing, where women felt comfortable to establish roots in a community, proved to be a barrier to maintaining a support system for some…” (Chernomas, Clarke & Marchinko, 2008). I found it very hard to get use to a new setting after moving in the summer of 2010. I was already dealing with depression, and now getting new symptoms of OCD. I’m privileged though to not be living in poverty and have a supporting boyfriend to help me through the rough times.



Getting past these barriers are the first step of getting help. Once seeking help from a professional may cause more barriers because of gender. An article from the Canadian Women’s Health Network (2009) states that “… research shows not paying attention to gender differences, or ‘gender neutrality’, leads to errors, which in turn leads to missed opportunities, misuse of resources and poor outcomes”. So why then does our health care system continue to gender as a problem? In the same article says “research also indicates that women in North America are prescribed twice as many psychotropic (mood altering) drugs compared with men” (Canadian Women’s Health Network, 2009). Could this be because women are more alert to what is happening around them? Because women are seen as those who give birth to and raise children, they gain alertness to their surroundings more so than men.



Many things could cause someone to have a mental illness. It could come from genetics or just past experiences, but living with them isn’t easy. They face many challenges like finding adequate support and living their lives normally. Health care systems need to make people feel more comfortable coming forward with problems such as depression or addictions. They also need to look for all options when treating a patient instead of jumping to prescription drugs. Most mental illnesses you can’t see from a simple glance either. Judging a book by its cover is never a good solution when it comes to someone who may not be acting “normal”. You never know who they really are till you sit down and talk with them for a while, to hear their whole story. You never know, you may just learn something about yourself.



Reference list



Chernoma W. M., Clarke D. E., Marchinka S. (2008). Relationship-bases support for women living with serious mental illness. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 29,437-453. doi:10.1080/01612840801981108



Canadian Women’s Health Network. (2009). Mind the (gender) gap… in Canada’s new mental health framework. Retrieved from http://www.cwhn.ca/en/node/41606



~Joelle

Today's healthcare is having problems

Today’s health care system seems to be having problems, with long wait times or trying to find a doctor you’re comfortable with. Every time I go sit at the doctors, I’m sitting there for at least for an extra 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment. I feel bad for her too, because almost every time I’m there, there’s at least 3 or 4 people before me that hasn’t been seen. She had to stop taking walk-ins in the afternoon just so that the people with appointments could be seen on time.



Not only am I Caucasian-looking, middle class, high school graduate, university student, being Canadian gives us benefits that people trying to come into this country don’t have. My boyfriend is American, I find it funny that even someone that has traveled 10 hours to go to school here has so many problems just to go to a walk-in clinic. His mom’s insurance plus the university’s insurance plan don’t cover him enough to see a doctor. I’m very troubled by this, and it gets me thinking about those who came from across seas to try and find a better life for themselves and their families. An article written by Nicholas Keung (2010) states that 15% of immigrants who have been in this country for less than 5 years don’t have a family doctor, more than doubling the rate for Canadians. On top of that, 30% of women and 35% of men have not seen a dentist in the last year, leaving them vulnerable for infections and heart disease (Keung, 2010).



Looking around the campus, you can see many different nationalities. “The 2006 Canadian Census… (states that) 19.8% of the total population, were born outside the country” (Gushulak, Pottie, Hatcher Roberts, Torres, DesMeules, 2011). On an article I found by authors Gushulak, Pottie, Hatcher Roberts, Torres, and DesMeules , a table stated that, in 2007, Toronto’s population was made up of 36.8% of immigrants. “Most (>90%) migrants arriving in Canada report very good to excellent health and display health characteristics that equal or exceeds those of Canadian residents”( Gushulak, Pottie, Hatcher Roberts, Torres, DesMeules, 2011). The article states that traveling back to their homeland to visit other family members may re-expose them to illnesses or diseases that are not present in Canada. Living here might cause their immune system to weaken against these illnesses and diseases causing them to contract them, becoming very ill in the process. “New immigrants are twice as likely to have difficulties in accessing immediate care as those born in Canada” (Gushulak, Pottie, Hatcher Roberts, Torres, DesMeules, 2011). This is partly to blame the language barrier. Gushulak et al. stated that 36% of immigrants newly arriving to Canada have no knowledge about our official languages. Because of this barrier, immigrants may feel like any health care they might need may be out of their reach. Possibly having a translator for the most commonly used languages amongst immigrants may be an idea to help these barriers be overcome.



My mom works in the health care field, and talking about the difficulties in our health care system she says that, though the wait time have been becoming better, within the next 5 to 10 years things may be taking a turn for the worse. She says that the hospitals don’t have enough staff, and the retirement numbers are increasing. All this combined will cause a great problem, not only for the immigrants, but for Canadians as well.





~Joelle



References



Gushulak B. D., Pottie K., Hatcher Roberts J., Torres S., DesMeules M. (2011) Migration and Health in Canada: Health in the Global Village. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 183(12), 952-958.



Keung, N. (2010, March 30). Immigrant women hurt by barriers to health care: study. Thestar.com. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/immigration/article/787917--immigrant-women-hurt-by-barriers-to-health-care-study?bn=1

victimization by a community

Over time I have found that working on the crisis lines that there are things that I hear that make my skin crawl even though I have heard some of these stories before.  This does not mean to say that these occurrences are common place but it happens enough times that one wonders why nothing has been done about it and all the police have to say is well you have a mental illness as if to say that mental illness equates with ones credibility.  I guess I have to take a step back here and explain.  I work on the crisis and Manitoba suicide lines for the most part sometimes the sexual assault lines as well.  There have been times that I have received calls from women who suffer from various forms of mental illness that have become victims of violence and generally speaking it is not their first time.  The worst thing is that it is not their families or partners that are the perpetrators but rather it is members of the community at large, their landlord, neighbour and strangers on the street.  

According to The Canadian Mental Health Association, mentally Ill individuals are 3 to 5 times more likely to be the victims of violence then the general public.  Those that suffer from sever mental illness are 2.5 times more likely to be the victim of violence then the average person.  In my experience a lot of the people that fall in to this category generally are living in poverty and have issues with substance abuse a fact that is also supported by the Canadian Mental Health Association. American literature that a large number of the street population suffer from some form mental health issue ( Perron et al).  Even though these facts are not broken down to show the difference between men and women the statistics are still frightening.  What is interesting to note is that there is not a great deal of research done on this topic in both Canada and the United States

I think that what bothers me the most is that society seems to be willing to look the other way when it comes to people who suffer with mental illness.  What is interesting to note is that when I tried to look up the information about mental illness and violence, its seems interesting to note that there were more articles on mental illness and domestic violence, or that those that suffer from mental illness are less likely to be violent but really nothing about the victimisation of the mentally ill and the struggle they under go to be taken seriously by the law.  Talking to other colleagues at the Klinic they actually confirmed this observation as well as that there is no break down between male and female victims.  It seems that we talk about human rights, we devolved our mental health system in order to provide freedom of choice and self determination but we as a society never set up a programming that would protect these individuals from us.  As Mullaly points out in a typical Liberal society one doesn’t fix something until there is a flaw in other words we react rather then be proactive.

I did find a brief done by The Justice Centre in the States that identifies women with mental illness to be more vulnerable to being victimised then men, for sexual assault is also added to the mix. They identify that homelessness and poverty for women with mental illness are at a greater risk of being victimised.  That women who have PTSD from domestic abuse are 5 times more likely to commit suicide then women who have not gone through domestic abuse.  Women are also more likely to be targeted because of their medication and its street value.  In other cases it is because they are not taking their meds and they are open to victimisation.  In the end the brief stated that further research was needed in the area of women with mental illness and their victimisation.

Lisa

Canadian Mental Health Association, http://www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=3-108, November 23, 2011.

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New structural Social Work (3^rd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario, Oxford University Press.

• Perron, 
Brian Edward, 
• Alexander-Eitzman, 
Ben, 
• Gillespie, 
David F,
•  
• Pollio, 
David. (November 2008)., Modeling the mental health effects of victimization among homeless persons, Volume 67, Issue 9, Social Science & Medicine.

Violence against Women with Mental Illness, The Justice Center the Council of State Governments.  2007.

http://www.who.int/mental_health/policy/development/Vicious-Circle-Framework.gif

Sandwich between

It seem that as I watch my parents and their friends get older it has become very obvious to me that they are not in the physical condition that they once were and that they are becoming physically challenged and they need assistance, some need assistance to get around and others need it to just get them through their every day routine.  Some of my parents’ friends have had heart attacks, strokes, have developed diseases like Parkinson’s or dementia.  I know just in my own case of having to step in to help my own parents  that there are times that I want to sit down and cry but I can’t for fear that I will not be able to do what I have to in order to get through the day.  These health issues have created a new set of social issues around adult children having to not only taking care of their own children but also ageing parents thus becoming the Sandwich Generation.  According to Williams (2005) with more women in the work force creating more stress for women who take on the role of caregiver.  According to Pinquart (2006) the increase in stress and stressors for women is compounded by the understanding that they have fewer resources then men and that their psychological and physical health are affected, with some consideration that there ma be some gender specific factors involved.

  As ageing parents are becoming less able to care for themselves adult children are finding that they are having to step in and help their parents or in-laws a job that is falling more and more to female members of the family with in the sandwich generation (Williams, 2005). In the Province of Manitoba we have home care and those that I know that are receiving this aid from this program have said that there are so many restrictions as to what home care workers can do and not do , that there are questions of home cares ability to carry out the services that are needed. This to then added to the responsibilities that adult children have with having to meet more of the elderly family member’s needs.

The question then is what does being a part of the sandwich generation have to do with women's issues and physical disabilities? If one looks at what Statistics Canada Published (2005) that there were about 2.6 Million people between the ages of 45 to 65 who have dependent children under the age of 25, of that number there are now approximately 27% that belong to the sandwich generation that are provided some form of care. 21% of the sandwich generation is caring for two seniors and about 5% are caring for more then three.  According to Williams this kind of scenario is very stressful making it very difficult for the sandwich generation to “balance work and family”.  This kind of stress creates a whole new set of problems for the sandwich generation, causing this generation to be at work about 65% of the time for varying reasons such as their own physical health being affected because of stress, having to care of the senior’s needs, forcing them sometimes in to having to drop hours and lost wages which intern creates even more stress  further affecting their ability to do their jobs. This has an additional issue for the sandwich generation in that it will affect their later income when they retire for some pensions are based upon how much one pays in to the plan and/or how much time one has worked in their last 5 yrs leading up to retirement.  There is a calculation that is followed and part of the calculation is based upon income earned and the number of hours worked.  So then their retirement income is going to be less then those that were not affected by being sandwiched (Chappell, 2010).  

Williams points out that not only are women more likely to take care of ageing (physically challenged) family members then men, women also spend more time caring for an older person approximately 29 hrs a month, with 79% of women provide personal care.  Men on the other hand spend 13 hrs. a month in providing care and it is generally doing basic outside home maintenance and assisting in transportation. It seems to me that because women as members of the sandwich generation are more likely to be caregivers and that over time they are going to be paying both in terms of their financial as well as their physical health.  It is time to recognise that as we age and trust me even though we want to stay young that is not life. When I was 20 life was only just beginning all I had to take care of was myself and I had no aches or pains, now in my mid 40’s I have a young child to care for and my parents are starting to require more and more help because of their physical health, if I sleep the wrong way I have a kink in my neck, if I move the wrong way there goes my back but this is life.  And to be honest there are times that I find it very difficult to stand back and find balance something that is very important in maintaining my own mental and physical health.  

There are things that I see being done by family members for their elderly that really should be done by professional caregivers and what is out there is so inadequate in my opinion that it is just a sad state of affairs.  This country was built by our parents, grand parents and in some cases families go back several generations and they opened up this country.  It is disheartening to be left with the feeling that capitalism and its greed is alive and well in our society ( Mullaly) and that there is no feeling of wanting to or having the need to pay something back to these people.  I know that over time this is not going to be the only group that does not get any thank you.  Women of the sandwich generation that stepped up to the plate and did what they had to will not be either.

The reason that I wrote this about disabilities with in old age and women as sandwich generation care gives is that I believe that as the baby boomers age and generation X has to step up to the plate something is going to have to be done for I do not feel that there well be enough adult children in the near future that are going to be able to take care of their ageing parents.  As globalisation grows the nature of how one works and the hours one has to put in, I am not sure if they are going to be able to provide the assistance that will be needed.  Unless there is legislation put in to place in terms of employment standards addressing this issue that the sandwich generation faces particularly women, there are going to be  more difficult times of it as it is women are the ones that are paying the price more so then men.  I do not see the capitalist market doing anything voluntarily unless they have to do this.

Lisa

Reference:

Chappell, R. (2010). The nature of Canadian social welfare.  Social welfare in Canadian Society.  Toronto: Nelson Education.

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New structural Social Work (3^rd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario, Oxford University Press.


Pinquart, M. and Sorensen, S., (2006). Gender differences in care giver stressors, social resources, and health: an updated meta-analysis.  Boston Journal of Gerentology: psychological sciences.  Vol. 61B,No.1, P33-45


Statistics Canada (2005). http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/040928/dq040928b-eng.htm. 

Williams, Cara. Summer 2005 .  The sandwich generation.  Canadian Social Trends.

Disabled women struggle to find stable jobs

Imagine just how difficult it is to be a woman in today’s society with all of the oppression that women face.  Now imagine being a woman who is disabled in society who do not only face barriers of being a woman oppressed by society, but also face the barrier of being a woman with a disability.  Disabilities are looked at by society as “a deficit”, while disabled people are compared to the capable, and further, some people may compare disabilities to a social construct such as gender. 

Studies have shown that the issues that lie within the government assisted programs for assisting disabled women in gaining employment are that the emphasis is put on the skills and attitudes of the person seeking employment instead of the issues of discrimination in hiring and the lack of accommodation in the work place (Chouinard, 2009).

Issues in Canadian policies that govern the assistance programs are that the programs are not designed specifically for each disability, and are more generalized for the whole population.

This is a quote taken from a research study on Disabled Mothers on Assistance Programs by Vera Chouinard, (2009) as she explains her frustration of being a disabled woman and says:

“As soon as the time for my monthly wage subsidies ran out I was training my replacement (also a Job Connect placement)! This employer lays off previous Job Connect workers as soon as the subsidy is over ([it is a] revolving door and always to the advantage of the employer).”

 This is the type of discrimination that disabled women should have protection from in policy from.

For myself and maybe others, looking at the fact that I am “able bodied”, meaning, that I am healthy and free of any disability, is an unearned privilege.  I think that people that are able bodied do not look at themselves as having a privilege, but just accept who they are and the life they live.  In the article by the Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA, 2008) called the Submission of the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women they state that “Canada has not enacted strong legislation that requires buildings and services to be accessible. To obtain accessible services and facilities, women with disabilities must file human rights complaints, which often take years to resolve.” (FAFIA, 2008).

I believe that until you know the real struggles that a person with a disability like a mother for example has to endure, we will continue to not really understand the privilege we hold of being able bodied.  I am a woman and a mother and I may have had many barriers in my life, but I take for granted the fact that I am able to walk and do things as a healthy woman and mother.  As Mullaly, (2007) says "the contention here is that most oppression today is systemic and unintentional, built into our social institutions, and carried out unconsciously in our day-to-day activities."

I think that the issues that are important to disabled mothers should be a higher priority, and more policies should be in place to help them.  I also think that we need to take a social democratic view on the employment programs to find a way to help the mothers find permanent employment and to help prevent discrimination by employers by enforcing new policies.  The Liberal notion of equality for individuals can only go so far to aide in the micro level programs.

Brenda,

References,

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New structural Social Work (3^rd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario, Oxford University Press.

Women's Inequality Canada, (2008). Submission of the Canadian Feminist Alliance For International Action To the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Retrieved from

http://www.fafia-afai.org/files/FAFIA_Canada_CEDAW_2008.pdf


Chouinard, V. (2010). Rehabilitation in Practice: Women's with Disabilities Experiences with Government Employment Assistance Canada. Disability and Rehabilitation, 32(2), 148-158.

Trafficked Women!

People from all over the world come to Canada to find refuge here.  Although, for some women, immigration to Canada is in an act of exploitation against women, for them to become a mail-order bride.  This is when a woman (usually of the same culture) from a third world country is ordered by a man in a first world country.  The mail-order bride system "exploits the economic inequality between poor countries and prosperous countries, as well as the most demeaning and discriminatory cultural and ethnic stereotypes of women. This phenomenon thus fosters subordination based on ethnicity, sex and social class within a country, between countries, and between individuals" (Belleau, 2003).    

The fact that women are looked at as objects and are treated as such is just wrong to me.  I don't believe that men have the right to buy women.  One can just imagine the effect that this would have on the woman or bride.   The woman is putting herself in danger as she becomes vulnerable and is dominated by the man.  Some women are treated as less of a human being in some countries, and are already looked at by members of their country as less of a person than men and do not have equal rights.  The idea of a woman considering becoming a mail-order bride as a better life than the one she has, or as a cultural norm, or that it is in some way gratifying to herself or her family is preposterous, the society that the woman comes from is sexist as well as the act itself.

In Canada, "at the moment, the law exposes brides to penalties, while leaving the introduction agencies and consumer-husbands unpunished" (Belleau, 2003). The fact that the men involved in order the mail-order bride go unpunished is an act of oppression itself.  The woman who already suffers from social sexism, is then punished for an act of sexism.

How will mail-order brides ever become an act of cruelty and  become a ruling against men?  I am personally astonished to learn that the women are punished for being a mail-order bride and the men are not.  To me, this is a sad and exhausting example that as a woman, makes you feel helpless and really intensifies the reality of the patriarchy society that we live in.  I think that in order for the government to help the situation it would have to involve helping the woman in the situation, with support programs that would help her to become independent, especially in situations where the woman is abused.  The very fact that these women do not have any resources, money or few rights as an immigrant, is what endangers the women into further submission.

Brenda,

References,

Belleau, M. (2003). Canadian Woman Studies: Mail-order brides and Canadian immigration policy, 22(3/4), 94-103.