mental health

Montreal Canadiens' Jonathan Drouin celebrates his goal against Vancouver Canucks goalie Braden Holtby during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver on January 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Anxiety and insomnia drove Canadiens star Jonathan Drouin to take break from hockey

Forward says he has since restored his mental health, and is skating with his teammates again

Montreal Canadiens' Jonathan Drouin celebrates his goal against Vancouver Canucks goalie Braden Holtby during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver on January 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
NDP MLA Sheila Malcolmson says “we are transforming mental health and substance use care in B.C.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld file

Report ‘confirms’ mental health care is improving in B.C.

But observers skeptical of provincial review of its Pathway to Hope program

NDP MLA Sheila Malcolmson says “we are transforming mental health and substance use care in B.C.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld file
San Francisco’s Street Crisis Response Team was created in 2020 to find meaningful solutions to homelessness and addiction. Victoria is in the process of creating a similar team, drawing on the lived experience of peers. (Courtesy San Francisco Department of Public Health)

Island peer-assisted crisis team looks to be difference-maker in a mental health crisis

Pilot project in development aims to offer alternative to police-only response by 2022

San Francisco’s Street Crisis Response Team was created in 2020 to find meaningful solutions to homelessness and addiction. Victoria is in the process of creating a similar team, drawing on the lived experience of peers. (Courtesy San Francisco Department of Public Health)
Gymnast Simone Biles answers a question during an interview after a training session Tuesday, May 11, 2021, in Spring, Texas. (AP Photo / David J. Phillip)

Elliott: ‘We can all learn from her courage’: Simone Biles not alone in mental health struggle

It’s worth paying attention to people who best understand what Olympic gymnastic star is confronting

Gymnast Simone Biles answers a question during an interview after a training session Tuesday, May 11, 2021, in Spring, Texas. (AP Photo / David J. Phillip)
Lifeworks’ Mental Health Index measures current data against pre-pandemic benchmarks. (Pexels)

COVID-19 isolation has impacted mental health of 1-in-5 Canadians, survey finds

Report also found some workers are struggling with their employers’ unclear return to work plans

Lifeworks’ Mental Health Index measures current data against pre-pandemic benchmarks. (Pexels)
A Muslim student wearing a mask with the colors of the pro-independence East Turkistan flag, holds a poster during a rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, March 25, 2021. About a dozen of students staged the rally calling to an end to alleged oppression against Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority in China’s region of Xinjiang. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

‘I have to do my part’: Canadians across the country walking for a cause and to heal

Malik is one of several Canadians who are currently walking hundreds of kilometres uphill and downhill

A Muslim student wearing a mask with the colors of the pro-independence East Turkistan flag, holds a poster during a rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, March 25, 2021. About a dozen of students staged the rally calling to an end to alleged oppression against Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority in China’s region of Xinjiang. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
A sheriff’s car sits out front of the Capitol Theatre on Argyle Street in Port Alberni, where a coroner’s inquest into the 2016 death of 18-year-old Jocelyn George is taking place. (June 23, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Coroner’s inquest suggests creation of wellness centre in Port Alberni

Recommendation one of 24 made after B.C. teen’s death in 2016

A sheriff’s car sits out front of the Capitol Theatre on Argyle Street in Port Alberni, where a coroner’s inquest into the 2016 death of 18-year-old Jocelyn George is taking place. (June 23, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
The province is granting Anxiety Canada $555,000 to develop a series of mental health literacy videos, called Behind The Mask. (Unsplash)

B.C. to fund ‘Behind the Mask’ mental health video series for children, teens

The province is spending $555,000 on the digital awareness initiative in partnership with Anxiety Canada

The province is granting Anxiety Canada $555,000 to develop a series of mental health literacy videos, called Behind The Mask. (Unsplash)
Rick Ruppenthal of Saltair will host a 12-hour talk-a-thon Friday, June 18 over Facebook live. (Photo submitted)

Talk-a-thon to focus on men’s mental health issues

Island man spearheading a campaign to generate more conversation during fundraiser

Rick Ruppenthal of Saltair will host a 12-hour talk-a-thon Friday, June 18 over Facebook live. (Photo submitted)
Conservative MP Tom Kmiec waves to the crowd during the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Friday, July 8, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Newborn daughter’s death inspires MP’s bill on bereavement leave for parents

Conservative MP Tom Kmiec says a day or two off not enough for some grieving parents

Conservative MP Tom Kmiec waves to the crowd during the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Friday, July 8, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
The emergency department at Victoria General Hospital. Sarah and her daughter frequent the ER as they can’t find supports in the community. (Black Press Media file photo)

Mind the Gap: Vancouver Island children in crisis

Navigating Greater Victoria’s mental health system

The emergency department at Victoria General Hospital. Sarah and her daughter frequent the ER as they can’t find supports in the community. (Black Press Media file photo)
Basketball nets have been removed at a school closed due to COVID-19 in Mississauga, Ont., on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Advocates are mounting a campaign to declare a crisis among Canadian youth as children’s hospitals report a staggering rise in the demand for mental health services during the pandemic.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Advocates say Canada’s youth mental health crisis has ‘life and death’ stakes

#CodePink campaign urges action to combat the havoc the pandemic is wreaking on youth

Basketball nets have been removed at a school closed due to COVID-19 in Mississauga, Ont., on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Advocates are mounting a campaign to declare a crisis among Canadian youth as children’s hospitals report a staggering rise in the demand for mental health services during the pandemic.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Residents living in the 41-unit King George Apartments on Fifth Avenue and Argyle Street in Port Alberni will be able to remain there after the Canadian Mental Health Association and Province of B.C. partnered to purchase the building in May 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Province steps in to secure housing for Alberni apartment tenants

CHMA receives $3-million grant to help purchase building near city hall

Residents living in the 41-unit King George Apartments on Fifth Avenue and Argyle Street in Port Alberni will be able to remain there after the Canadian Mental Health Association and Province of B.C. partnered to purchase the building in May 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Ally Thomas, 12, seen in an undated family handout photo, died on April 14 from a suspected overdose. Her family says they are frustrated more public supports weren't available when they tried to get her help. THE CANADIAN PRESS

Minister says suspected overdose death of 12-year-old pushing B.C. to ‘do better’

Minister Sheila Malcolmson of Mental Health and Addictions says the government is working ‘as hard as we can’ to build a system of care for youths

Ally Thomas, 12, seen in an undated family handout photo, died on April 14 from a suspected overdose. Her family says they are frustrated more public supports weren't available when they tried to get her help. THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. announced the launch of an app May 7 that connects youth struggling with mental health and substance use with “life-saving” social services. (Screen grab)

5 years in the making: Mental health app for youth and children launches in B.C.

The province provided $1.6-million to fund a virtual care platform

B.C. announced the launch of an app May 7 that connects youth struggling with mental health and substance use with “life-saving” social services. (Screen grab)
NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson speaks with the media about her private members bill regarding abandoned vessels, in Ottawa on Thursday, November 30, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

B.C. to add mental health, substance use support for youth to 15 communities

Roughly $56 million, as part of the 2021 provincial budget, will be used to launch the teams

NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson speaks with the media about her private members bill regarding abandoned vessels, in Ottawa on Thursday, November 30, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A man pauses at a coffin after carrying it during a memorial march to remember victims of overdose deaths in Vancouver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. announces historic half-billion-dollar funding for overdose crisis, mental health

Of it, $152 million will be used to address the opioid crisis and see the creation of 195 new substance use treatment beds

A man pauses at a coffin after carrying it during a memorial march to remember victims of overdose deaths in Vancouver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Students enter the Pierre Laporte Secondary School as secondary school students return to class full time during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, Monday, March 29, 2021. Pandemic-fuelled frustration has some teens expressing anger in unhealthy ways after a year of missed social connections that would typically help them mature and regulate their emotions, says a psychiatrist calling for more education on coping skills as part of the school curriculum. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Teens need coping skills to deal with anger during pandemic: doctor

While some kids adjusting to online learning, parents see a lack of extracurricular activities

Students enter the Pierre Laporte Secondary School as secondary school students return to class full time during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, Monday, March 29, 2021. Pandemic-fuelled frustration has some teens expressing anger in unhealthy ways after a year of missed social connections that would typically help them mature and regulate their emotions, says a psychiatrist calling for more education on coping skills as part of the school curriculum. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
The BCPA launched a petition this March, calling the provincial government to include psychologists in the list of eligible providers through MSP billing for consultation and psychotherapy. (Black Press file)

B.C. psychologists petition government for more mental health coverage under MSP

B.C. Psychological Association says current covered programs fail to meet the demand of British Columbians

The BCPA launched a petition this March, calling the provincial government to include psychologists in the list of eligible providers through MSP billing for consultation and psychotherapy. (Black Press file)
Provincial Minister of Mental Health and Addictions announced grants for six communities and organizations on Vancouver Island to address overdose response and awareness efforts. (Black Press file)

Six Vancouver Island communities and organizations receive overdose response grants

Rural, remote and First Nations communities face obstacles, province points out

Provincial Minister of Mental Health and Addictions announced grants for six communities and organizations on Vancouver Island to address overdose response and awareness efforts. (Black Press file)