A network offering support

CASSANDRA FREEMAN

The High Holidays are over, so there’s nothing to distract us from the fact that winter is upon us. If you really aren’t looking forward to the upcoming months of rain and think that you might need some support, then you should consider West Coast Mental Health Network Society, which is funded mainly by Vancouver Coastal Health.

The network is run exclusively by people who have been through the mental health system. To join, you need to have seen a psychiatrist at one point in your life and membership is free. The network publishes a journal, runs an educational healing series that’s open to the general public and is a sponsor of the Actors Drop In.

Adrianne Fitch is the bright, bouncy and enthusiastic coordinator who runs the network, along with the board of directors. She told the Independent that peer support, where people with similar backgrounds help each other, is the backbone of the nonprofit.

“Our peer support groups create a sense of community for our members.... If you are in emotional trouble, it can be very comforting to be sure that, within one or two weeks, you can attend a social activity with people who know and accept you, at least some of whom have probably gone through similar difficulties.”

The network runs 10 support groups: men’s, women’s, Latin American women’s and South Asian, as well as cultural arts, expressive arts, book club, film club, conversation club, badminton/volleyball and yoga. One day, you might find yourself at the symphony; the next, creating ceramic art and, a week later, at a comedy show. Most outings are free or cost very little. It would take some fundraising, but Fitch said the network is open to creating a Jewish support group.

“If there were enough interest in the Jewish mental health community, people could create a very dynamic group,” she said.

Peer group facilitators are paid an honorarium for their work and many have developed the confidence to go back to school or work in the mental health system.

The Bulletin, which is edited by Irit Shimrat (author of Call Me Crazy), is another form of peer support at the network, Fitch said. Published four times a year, the 16-page journal is a way for members to share past challenges, hope for the future and different ways of healing. Members’ art and poetry is featured in each issue.

Network member Bob Krzyewski runs the educational series on Fridays once a month. Open to the general public, Fitch said that, like the journal, the series is a good way for new people to get a feel for what the network is all about. There is often an experiential element and past classes have involved experts in transformational drum, chant and dance, Feldenkrais bodywork, and the how and why of affordable healthy eating. Tuesday night’s Actors Drop In is another fun public program, in which performers come together and cold-read scenes.

People also can call into the network for referrals to different housing and advocacy organizations, and there is a list of doctors and psychiatrists with anonymous ratings of their abilities. The network’s website contains a plethora of information about the organization, as well as position papers, such as What Women Want, which contains the views of 60 women urging the creation of a safe house, a place where they could stay when in emotional distress. The house is envisioned as “a spiritual place to relax and get support ... [a] place of flexibility, respect, free choice – basically, a safe environment that women could look forward to coming to.” Another position paper talks about amending existing legislation in order to stop psychiatric patients from being committed, which essentially takes away all their rights as citizens. It also favors representation agreements, where patients appoint others to take care of their affairs and act on their behalf if they are unable to do so.

“This is the kind of powerful work that goes on when people who share similar experiences get together,” said Fitch, “and I hope to be part of more work like this in the future.”

Fitch is the single mother of two daughters, aged 11 and 15. She publishes Hamotzi, the Jewish Food Bank newsletter, and is an active member of the Second Generation Group (children of Holocaust survivors), where she has made many good friends. Fitch does all this with severe hearing loss, and she requests that, when you meet her, you speak facing her so she can read your lips. For the telephone, she has a device that amplifies sound, and she sometimes also uses a Voice Carry Over (VCO) service.

The network gratefully accepts donations to assist with program costs. For more information, visit wcmhn.org. To contact the network, call the office at 604-733-5570 or e-mail [email protected]. (To reach the VCO service, call 1-800-855-0511.)

Cassandra Freeman is a freelance writer living in Vancouver. She is involved with the Actors Drop In.

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