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As you may or may not know I am an occupier in the occupyvancouver (OV) movement. Vancouver is one of the over 1000 cities across the globe; we are a connected people who want to make a change for the betterment of all. I am there personally for two reasons 1) Wild Salmon and 2) Mental Health. I am also active in the Media committee and thus try to take on projects that advocate for these two issues.

As part of the radio show, I have been interviewing Michael Schratter (ridedonthide.com) on a regular basis, he has been cycling the world for mental health. Michael started his 40,000 km journey departing from the Vancouver Art Gallery on August 1, 2010. I have done numerous live telephone interviews with him particularly when he was in Central and South America and then on his final leg in Canada over the past few months. I, as well as other guests who have been on my show have been inspired by Michael’s journey and appreciated his candor through the conversations we had.

On Saturday November 12th Michael completed his 38,000 km journey around the world in Vancouver. Being a part of the occupyvancouver community I thought it would be a good opportunity for him to ride into the art gallery, symbolically completing his ride where he started and to address and inspire the people there. The plan was for Michael to arrive on Saturday November 12th at 3:30 pm, after his arrival event at GM Place earlier in the day. I arranged with the OV programming committee to make sure they could accomodate on the schedule. Earle Peach who is part of a band called Illiteraty, that plays frequently in the downtown eastside and is very aware of the mental health issues within that community had conveniently been on the schedule as well right after Michael’s planned arrival.

Having been onsite for the better part of four weeks I have seen the mental health and addiction issues first hand. Whether it is interpersonal conflict, random psychotic or manic outbursts in meetings or dealing with suffering and death due to drugs and alcohol, it has open my eyes and educated me on issues I only read about. However, what has inspired me is a caring community of people that has accepted people as humans and try to work on strategies in a non judgemental way to include everyone in the conversations. I have been on stage a number of times announcing that I am a mental health advocate, and people in the occupy community have come up to me to share their stories in private. Yes, the stigma still exists even within a supportive and caring community.

On Saturday November 12th at 2:41 pm I received a voicemail from Michael stating that he was not allowed to go to occupyvancouver. Here is a transcript of that message.

“Hey Jay I was told explicitly unfortunately I’m not allowed to at this point in time to go to occupyvancouver we dont have to get into details as to why, its controversial. You know as a left wing socialist I believe in everything that is going on there, I was reminded that I did sign a contract and that exists for two years and no one is interested in having sponsors take a financial risk or a branding risk with the ride dont hide campaign and in anyway feel uncomfortable. You know what I’m saying its unfortunate and embarrassing but that is the way it is. Im going to send you a text to have you to go to voice mail this message. Once again I apologize and I know you have extended yourself far further than you needed to make the offer, I really appreciate I look forward to working on your radio show anytime you want.” - Michael Schratter

Naturally, I was angered by this message, I was more than livid, I took it personally but then eventually, sadly not surprised. I blamed myself for putting Michael and myself in this situation. I thought; I should know what corporate influence is all about, I lived in that space in a past life and it almost killed me. After hearing Michael’s message my Bipolar mind was racing wildly through the scenarios on how I would retaliate; my ego and the cause for the greater good was in serious conflict. I was an emotional minefield waiting to explode on the next random person I was to come across, I was scared of this possibility. I had a conversation with a friend who helped me process the logic, it was kind of like trying to read a firefighters manual in the middle of a raging inferno, she tried her best.

At 3:30 pm I had no other option than to break the news on stage to the occupyvancouver community and explain the reasons why Michael could not make it. Being that there was a downpour there were only a few dozen in the camp that likely heard me. However, when I did explain it, people were in shock, they were saddened but seemingly not surprised. Many came to the conclusion that Michael was censored, they don’t blame him personally. However, being that the occupy movement is about changing the system of inequity through challenging the centralized powers of authority that affect the masses, the outcome in retrospect was predictable. It says even within social causes there is the 1% who prioritize the corporate interests and profit that support them vs facing the risk in the pursuit of the right thing to do. I even recall David Suzuki who presented at occupyvancouver a few weeks back where he read a disclaimer before his speech and stated he spoke only for himself and not his foundation (that bears his own name) or any entities associated with him. Was David Suzuki trying to capture back some freedom of expression?

I am saddened by the lost opportunity that the Ride Don’t Hide people squandered. However the reasons why I am there and the advocacy projects that I believe in do not change, and I am willing to collaborate with any free thinking individual. That being said, I have to remind myself daily I am just one voice in the 99%.

- J Peachy

Many know that I have been occupied at occupyvancouver for almost a month. Last week at the encampment there was a drug overdose by a young man (Tyler). The night before his overdose he was turned away from St. Pauls Hospital, that night he self medicated (drug or alcohol unknown). Tyler is American and has a prosthetic leg which apprently was infected and thus was in severe pain. The next Morning on Thursday November 4th, he was unconscious. He was resucitated by Mathew Kagis an onsite medic and brought to St. Pauls Hospital where 3 hours later he was discharged and astonshingly back on site at the Occupation.

The next day Friday, he was onsite again, relapsed and was in the medic tent for observation. He was slipping in and out of consciousness and I was asked to bring him in my Van to another hospital VGH. The patient, Tyler and his girlfriend lay in the back area of the van, he was slipping in an out of consciousness while his girlfriend talked to him in his arms, slapping his face to keep him awake. It took about 10 minutes to get to the hospital.

When greeted at VGH, the admissions staff said “you can’t pick hospitals” we had told him that he was denied care from St. Pauls. VGH was reluctant to admit him and said it would take 4-6 hours. Leah P, the medic who accompanied him and his girlfriend were livid at his treatment and strongly advocated for his care. Eventually he was admitted, got physical care and got into Detox.

He has been subsequently released from Detox and is now back onsite at occupyvancouver because he has nowhere else to go.

However I believe he is on his way back to the US, the story continues.

Many know that I have been occupied at occupyvancouver for almost a month. Last week at the encampment there was a drug overdose by a young man (Tyler). The night before his overdose he was turned away from St. Pauls Hospital, that night he self medicated (drug or alcohol unknown). Tyler is American and has a prosthetic leg which apprently was infected and thus was in severe pain. The next Morning on Thursday November 4th, he was unconscious. He was resucitated by Mathew Kagis an onsite medic and brought to St. Pauls Hospital where 3 hours later he was discharged and astonshingly back on site at the Occupation.

The next day Friday, he was onsite again, relapsed and was in the medic tent for observation. He was slipping in and out of consciousness and I was asked to bring him to another hospital VGH. The patient, Tyler and his girlfriend lay in the back area of the van, he was slipping in an out of consciousness while his girlfriend talked to him to keep him awake.

When greeted at VGH the admissions staff said “you can’t pick hospitals” we had told him that he was denied care from St. Pauls. VGH was reluctant to admit him and said it would take 4-6 hours. Leah P, the medic who accompanied him and his girlfriend were livid at his treatment and strongly advocated for his care. Eventually he was admitted, got physical care and got into Detox.

He has been subsequently released from Detox and is now back onsite at occupyvancouver because he has nowhere else to go. However, I believe he is on his way back to the US. They story continues…

Media coverage

http://www.theprovince.com/news/vancouver/Occupy+Vancouver+overdose+victim+detox/5671355/story.html

Bell marked February 9 as “Let’s Talk Day”, donating 5¢ for every text and long distance call to support mental health programs across Canada. The day is also meant to get people across Canada talking about mental illness to help break down the stigma that surrounds depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and other illnesses.

“The ”Let’s Talk Day” is music to my ears. Not so much because of the topic or the intent but because Bell is a huge corporation with huge reach and scope,” Karen Liberman, Executive Director of the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, said. “To have a company like that echo what we’ve been saying in our own “smaller” ways for the last 20 years gives us a tremendous boost in morale. Sometimes it feels as though we’ve been the small voices that have been yelling as loud as we could and finally someone has taken up our cause. I believe this can only make our jobs easier, our capacity to fund raise easier, and our community outreach easier. My only hope is that Bell will see fit to financially support smaller, grassroots organizations like ours in addition to the bigger name mental health agencies.

“I believe we are on the beginning of a “tsunami” of support for mental health”. I think we have turned the corner on the silence and stigma that surrounds mental illness. Now we need to ride this wave, translate it into support, and get on with helping more Canadians who deserve and need our support so desperately.”

The Mood Disorders Association of Ontario marked February 9 with the latest in their series of free public events featuring Dr. Anthony Levitt, Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. His talk, “Medication: Your Best Friend! Your Worst Enemy,” created a lively discussion, a refreshing look at medication and mood disorders. The event took place at the North Toronto Community Health Centre.

The crux of his point was that medication can lead to miraculous recoveries from disorders. While it can produce intolerable side effects, many of them can be managed. Resistance to medication can often be mistaken for sensitivity. And, in rare cases, medication can do the opposite of what they are supposed to do, but to not discourage the use of medication, because it can also lead to miraculous recoveries, and, at the very least, to symptom regression.

In the meantime, it is heartening that corporations like Bell and Canada Post are contributing to the dialogue and helping to break down the stigma of depression and mood disorders, making the efforts of practitioners such as the MDAO more fruitful.

No Need for it to be the Elephant in the Room

Here are some quotes from Dave Gallson, the Associate National Executive Director for the Mood Disorders Society of Canada, from an interview I did with him for newz4u.net:

“The Statistics Canada report indicating a rise of those reporting a diagnosed mood disorder shows that the work being done across Canada at promoting and encouraging people who are touched by mental health issues to reach out is beginning to work. However, with 10.4% of Canadians at any one time having a mental illness means that approximately 1.4 million Canadians are suffering in silence at any one time. These are huge numbers of people who are not obtaining the help they need.

“MDSC is working with numerous corporations on different projects that assist persons with mental illness and their families. For example, our National Executive Director, Phil Upshall is a Trustee on the Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health. This Foundation provides money for projects designed to have an impact right at the front-line, helping people cope with and overcome mental illness. We have not as yet had the privilege of work specifically with Bell, however we have a meeting scheduled in the very near future.

“MDSC is a progressive and inclusive organization which is very interested in improving mental health in the workplace. We have a deep concern that too many workplaces are not adequately addressing mental health, not creating healthy environments and not providing training and supports for both staff and management as is needed.

“Consequently, we are seeing such evidence as the recently released report from CAMH that the actual cost of mental health leave on average is double the cost of a leave for a physical illness. The study, published in the Journal of Environmental Medicine, looked at data tracking the short-term disability leave of 33,913 full-time employees in Ontario. Results showed that the cost to a company for a single employee on a short-term disability leave due to mental health concerns totals nearly $18,000. Mental illness is associated with more lost work days than any other chronic condition, costing the Canadian economy $51 billion annually in lost productivity. The MDSC is looking at developing targeted programs for employers and is currently looking for companies who would like to support our organization in order to develop and share these resources.”

He also provided me with an excellent link for employers to use for establishing a mental health in the workplace program: http://www.mooddisorderscanada.ca/page/workplace

Also, a Facebook mental health in the workplace page which can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_178042798876193&ap=1

Happy New Year, everybody!

Patrick Connors

Its been just over 12 months since the start of our Radio concept. Here is a little story of how it came about, its long but its personal and I think worth the read.

I had been seriously depressed a couple of years ago. It was one of the snowiest winters on record in Vancouver and not only was I physically snowed in, in the remote village I live in. I was also snowed in psychologically; the crushing burden of the side effects from my circumstances left me bed ridden. I was slowly letting my life drain away and was praying I could just die in my sleep. For months, the only time I would open the door is to let my dog out and pee, there were a few days where I even forgot to do that. ‘Star’ my Husky Sheppard pup, let me know how inconvenient that was for her on a number of occasions; my bad.

One of the things I would do to loosely connect with the outside world, was listening to Canuck games on radio. Seemingly that was also the year of the worst losing streak in team history. If I was going to be depressed I picked the best hockey season to do it, I’m pretty sure it didn’t help me. If you are a canuck fan, I believe you naturally become bi-polar over time. Unlike most Canuck fans though, I had a biological head start. The only other thing I would consume online would be political comedy from the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Looking back, I really couldn’t tell if I wanted to laugh or merely addicted to the satirical negativity.

Eventually, family circumstances would not allow me to waste away any longer. My Father was seriously ill and my mother needed my help, I was forced out. This catalyzed me to find all those broken pieces, pick them up, salvage any good ones and recycle the rest.

That summer I had attended a peer support group. It went well and I learned a lot about my own thought process and enjoyed the comaradarie and commiseration, it was a good fuel source. When it ended, I felt a certain emptiness for what came next and needed to replace that feeling quickly. I had thought about radio, a friend Ryan Fletcher had already been doing radio for quite awhile at CJSF and other community stations. Art and Music has always been something I enjoyed, but was slowly becoming aware of its therapeutic properties.

That summer I wanted to commit to my Art and Creativity not only as a healthy mechanism but as a means for economic independence. I felt the need to connect with more artists, I would trust that they would understand the emotional difficulties that were related to my experience. I wanted to learn and inventory skills of how they create. I also had to re-record the tunes in my head, all the stuff I was singing was from the nineties. You don’t want to sing that stuff out too loud in public spaces, you risk medical certification.

On the days before I went to my first radio orientation I went to the City of Coquitlam’s Treefest Arts Event on the Riverview Lands, the province’s primary mental health care facility. Helen, from Arts Connect, suggested that I check out Finnies Garden and on the way there, is the SPARC Museum. Little did I know what I was in for. SPARC is the Society for the Preservation of Antique Radio in Canada. I was blown away, it was a massive warehouse of antique radios, mock studio set-ups, including the Titanic, Military Radio Communication stations and the old CKNW mobile radio broadcast booth. I believe in the Universe and what she has to say, I also think she is a comedian, with her only intention being to make you happy. So I got the message loud and clear, I needed to do this, plus all the reasons why were just laid out in front of me.

So in the past 12 months since that time, where Kitt Nova and myself brainstormed on the concept it has been an amazing ride. We have produced over 80 episodes, we have contributors in Toronto and the US, we won a national radio award for our Homelessness Marathon broadcast and won two CJSF Station awards this year. All these achievements are a celebration of community. Without the support of the team at CJSF, Gallery Gachet, friends, family, volunteers, contributors, guests and all the different stakeholders its not more than a crazy idea. It takes belief by others that you will enrich their lives to make projects like this happen. It’s a reflection of the genuine human spirit, no one has asked to participate because of the money, primarily because there is none, however there is an abundance of positive social capital to go around and share.

We are bonded by our diversity in experience and knowledge and the openness to the human potential. Coming from a corporate background, I didn’t think this world actually exists, but it is totally euphoric being inside of it and I try to invite as many people into the party as possible.

Because the Arts are more than just about entertainment, its a means for creative survival.

Happy Birthday everyone.

For those of you who have come to know our show, you have likely seen a 50 pound Husky Sheppard milling around the studio and live broadcast locations. ‘Star’, who’s Dad J Peachy is a producer on Sound Therapy Radio is her caretaker. But she isn’t your regular pooch just along for a free ride and the occasional pepperoni puppy pampering, she has a role in Mental Health advocacy. Earlier this fall ‘Star’ passed her evaluation as a Therapy Dog for St. John Ambulance, she is excited to finally get a job at 42 years of human age.

Those that know ‘Star’, have experienced her calming demeanor and know she will do her best. As an added bonus, she works for cheap and as long as it smells like fish or chicken she’s all ears. So, when you see us around say hello, because now that’s her job.

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