MENTAL HEALTH, ADDICTIONS THERAPIES NEED TO BE INTEGRATED - EXPERTS

EDMONTON - More work needs to be done to make sure people with mental
illnesses have access to addictions counselling, the Mental Health
Commission of Canada heard Tuesday during public consultations in Edmonton.

Many of the severely mentally ill also have addictions to drugs and
alcohol, but the two issues are often dealt with as separate
specialties.

Brenda Desjarlais, executive director at Poundmakers Lodge in St.
Albert, said 75 per cent of her clients who come for addictions
treatment also have mental health issues, such as bipolar disorder,
schizophrenia, depression or anxiety disorders. Yet the 52-bed lodge
doesn't have a full-time mental health therapist on site, because
there isn't enough funding for that position on top of the addictions
counsellors and a native elder to help with spiritual and cultural
healing, Desjarlais told the commission.

"How can you just treat one of the illnesses?" Desjarlais asked,
noting that addictions are sometimes a symptom of bigger problems,
such as mental illness.

"The mental health issues really interfere with treatment and success
in the community. If you take a more holistic approach, you're going
to do more good."

Retired senator Michael Kirby, chairman of the mental health
commission which was launched in August, said historically the
mentally ill have been shuttled between mental health services and
addictions centres because neither group felt they had the expertise
to help with both problems.

But that needs to change, he said.

"They are an integrated problem," said Kirby. "How do you marry the
two?"

Kirby, who co-authored the 2006 Senate report on mental health, is on
a cross-country tour to find out what his priorities should be over
the next three years to address mental health in Canada.

In 2007, the federal budget allotted $10 million over two years to
establish the commission and pledged an additional $15 million a year
for operating costs, beginning in 2009.

Kirby was particularly interested in the work of AADAC in Edmonton,
which has done some work to address the two issues together.

The Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission has a full-time
addictions counsellor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital working in the
psychiatric department and other departments.

The agency also does a work exchange with the Edmonton Mental Health
Clinic so that addictions counsellors can work with mental health workers.

Allan Aubry, AADAC's executive director, said he hopes the government
also funds a 10- or 12-bed treatment facility specifically aimed at
people with mental health and addiction problems.

"They are very difficult to treat and very complex," Aubry said.