"To the people of Canada, I say welcome us into society as full partners. We are not to be feared or pitied. Remember, we are your mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, your friends, co-workers and children. Join hands with us and travel together with us on our road to recovery."

 — Roy Muise, Out of the Shadows at Last: Transforming Mental Health, Mental Illness & Addiction Services in Canada.

Van Gogh, Beethoven, Churchill, and Cobain all had a history of mental illness. Indeed, one in five Canadians are likely to experience a diagnosable mental illness. And with a rapidly aging population and an increased demand on health care resources, the need for mental health professionals has never been greater. Not only can you have a rewarding career with a future but you can make a difference in the future of others.

The Facts on Mental Illness
How much do you know about mental illness? Here are some interesting facts:

• Nearly six million people or one in five Canadians (20% of the population) are likely to experience a diagnosable mental illness. Approximately 3% of Canadians are likely to have lived with a serious mental illness.
  
• Less than 4% of medical research funding goes to mental illness research.
  
• The downsizing of institutional care was not matched with a complementary upsizing of community-based services, resulting in significant gaps of service for those with severe illness and for people with moderate degrees of impairment.
• Of the 10 leading causes of disability worldwide, five are mental disorders including major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance abuse disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.
• By 2020 it is estimated that depressive illnesses will become the second leading cause of disease burden worldwide and the leading cause in developed countries like Canada.
• About 4,000 Canadians commit suicide each year. Mental illness is highly correlated to suicidal behaviour, with studies indicating that more than 90% of suicide victims have a diagnosable mental illness or substance use disorder.
• The Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental Health has evaluated the impact of depressive disorders on business productivity. It estimates that economic costs of mental illness are the equivalent of 14% of corporate Canada’s net operating profits.
• A report published by Health Canada estimated that mental health problems cost $14.4 billion in 1998

Source: The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health

Mental Health Today
Education, information, and awareness of mental illness and mental health issues is much more prevalent today than ever before, and mental health has become an accepted and respected area of study. We are delving deeper into conditions that previously may have been attributed to addiction, age, or genetics, and considered untreatable or incurable, and finding other drivers such as stress, diet, soci-economic conditions, chemistry, and neurology which may be influenced by medication or lifestyle changes. Mental health research is a vast, exciting area of medicine that yields breakthroughs regularly from Parkinson’s to dementia.

As people become better informed and the stigma of mental illness is slowly overcome, high profile figures are increasingly speaking out. On March 7th, 2007, the Canadian Mental Health Association presented ‘Mental Illness in the Workplace: The Elephant in the Room’, at the Vancouver Conference and Exhibition Centre. The speakers included Margaret Trudeau, wife of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau who has coped with the debilitating conditions of a bipolar condition throughout her adult life.

Many other celebrities and high-profile people are speaking out about their experiences with mental illness. Among them are Nobel Prize-winning economist John Forbes Nash Jr. (schizophrenia); actor Michael J. Fox (Parkinson’s); actresses Patty Duke (bipolar disorder), Lorraine Bracco (depression) and Brooke Shields (postpartum depression); newspeople Jane Pauley (bipolar disorder) and Mike Wallace (depression); NFL athlete Terry Bradshaw (depression); and such public figures as Tipper Gore (depression) and Kitty Dukakis (depression, substance abuse).

The hugely successful Realizing Our Potential – A Symposium on Human Rights for People with Mental Illness, presented by Stenberg College in January 2007, featured Stephen Lewis, formerly the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, speaking on “Human Rights for People with Mental Illness”. Other speakers included Dr. David Goldbloom, Senior Medical Advisor, Education and Public Affairs, at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, who spoke on the Stigma of Mental Illness. Jim O’Dea spoke on “Housing as a Human Right” and LoyAnne McCuaig spoke on “Living with Mental Illness.” An online webcast of their speeches and a download of the Symposium magazine “Realizing Our Potential” can be found at www.realizingourpotential.com

A Future in Mental Health
Patients with a primary diagnosis of mental illness account for 6% of all hospitalizations in Canada, while another 8% involve patients with a non-psychiatric primary diagnosis and an associated mental illness, Canadian Institute for Health Information figures show. In fact the Canadian Mental Health Association states that 1 in every 5 Canadians will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives.

Elizabeth Lin, a researcher at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, goes further, saying that between one in five and one in three Canadians are affected by a psychiatric condition each year. "Mental illness is not uncommon," she said. "And how individuals who have mental illness . . . coping is partly a matter of what kind of help they're able to get and what kind of support.”

Here is the good news: all mental illnesses can be treated.

Careers in mental health can include Psychiatrist, Psychiatric Nurse, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist,  Psychologist, Psychometrist, Social Worker, Addictions Counselor, Registered Nurse, Addictions Specialist, Case Manager, Forensic Psychiatrist, and specific entry-level positions such as Mental Health & Developmental Disability Worker.

Stenberg College, with campuses in Vancouver and Surrey, specializes in health care education and offers three diploma programs that are directly related to careers in mental health:

• Mental Health & Developmental Disability Worker Diploma
  Developed in partnership with Coast Mental Health and Semiahmoo House Society, the Mental Health & Developmental Disability Worker diploma program will provide a comprehensive theoretical and practical education for students who wish to support individuals with developmental disabilities and/or mental illness. This program will prepare students to assist these individuals to live as fully and independently as possible.

• Regional Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing for LPN’s (Access Program)
  For the first time in British Columbia it is possible to complete Psychiatric Nursing Education while living in a region outside the lower mainland. Through a mixture of educational delivery methods, and with clinical placements in the student’s local health authority, the program will be accessible to those living in remote cities and communities in the North, Interior and Vancouver Island. This Diploma program will prepare individuals to work in a variety of mental health areas, providing psychiatric nursing services to the public. This particular Access program was especially developed for Licensed Practical Nurse’s who would receive credit for two semesters of the full program.  The program is delivered in a condensed format, allowing students to graduate within 16 months.

• Regional Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing
  For the first time in British Columbia it is possible to complete Psychiatric Nursing Education while living in a region outside the lower mainland.  Through a mixture of educational delivery methods, and with clinical placements in the student’s local health authority, the program will be accessible to those living in remote cities and communities in the North, Interior and Vancouver Island. This Diploma program will prepare individuals to work in a variety of mental health areas, providing psychiatric nursing services to the public. The program is also delivered in a condensed format, allowing students to graduate within 23 months.

Stenberg grads are respected throughout the health care industry, and many practicum hosts and employers have taken the time to provide glowing testimonials, such as “I want to thank you for placing students with B.C. Women’s Hospital for the clinical practicum. As the Program Coordinator I find Stenberg students beneficial to both the unit and the families, as they are resourceful, helpful and well trained to perform a variety of duties”.  Another emphasizes “our Stenberg student exceeded industry expectations. Her confidence in answering client questions and her ability to work well under stress and time sensitive issues was outstanding. I wish all practicum students were this easy to train and a pleasure to work with”. In fact, over 96% of Stenberg grads are employed in their field of study within 6 months of graduation.
Of course Stenberg’s unique success rate doesn’t just happen, but is a result of an intensive and extensive developmental process which sets Stenberg’s health care programs apart by their comprehensive collaboration with industry experts, and real life on-the-job practicums. Megan C explains “I am a past student of Stenberg College. I completed my practicum at Vancouver General Hospital during the month of July. I was well prepared for the job and full of confidence because of all of the practicum preparation at Stenberg. I was given contact people at the hospital as well as at all of the other hospitals by Stenberg instructors, which gives you a complete advantage while on the job hunt. I graduated on August 15th, and I was hired at VGH on September 2nd”.
If you would like to be an “active partner” in the daily lives of individuals with mental illnesses, contact Stenberg College today to learn how to effectively use your creativity, interest and passion to support individuals in all aspects of daily life by learning skills that really make a difference in their future and yours.

Stenberg College is dedicated to training that uses the most current industry techniques and methods so that you will enter the market with relevant, sought-after skills.

Stenberg College - Surrey
Suite 750 – 13450 – 102nd Avenue Surrey , British Columbia V3T 5X3 Canada

Stenberg College - Vancouver
Suite 200 – 1111 Melville Street
Vancouver , British Columbia V6E 3V6
Canada

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