Local author applauds MP Williams’ efforts on affordable housing and homelessness

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A local author struggling with her mental health is donating all proceeds from the sale of her book “Life on the Borderline” (available on amazon.ca) to Grace Inn Homeless Shelter.

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The book chronicles Karen Dack’s lived experience with borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. These mental health issues can very often lead to homelessness due to conflict in relationships, work environments, and financial difficulties.

“In my own life, the lack of accessibility led me to seek treatment out of town. After traveling for six weeks by bus and train, I inadvertently bounced my rent check due to the increased cost of travel. I was also denied access to a hoarding disorder group because I was out of the catchment area,” Dack said.

She met Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams on September 6 to present him with a copy of her book and told him she was donating all proceeds to Grace Inn.

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“Mr. Williams says he supports the work they are doing, and I applaud his efforts on affordable housing and homelessness. I have shared my concern about the lack of accessibility to mental health treatment, the limited number of sessions to meet with a counselor and the long waiting lists where it could take months or years to get the treatment you need,” Dack said.

Long waiting lists raise concerns about the 90-day waiting period for medical assistance in dying for people with mental illness as the only reason, Dack said.

“In an age when we value science, many experts have said there is no scientific basis to determine that a person with mental illness with the proper treatment could improve or learn to cope. and live a life worth living,” she said.

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As September 10 was World Suicide Prevention Day, Dack is deeply concerned about Bill C-7, which extends medical assistance in dying to mental illness even when there is no death. in the foreseeable future for individuals.

“I fear that many vulnerable people, including mature minors (my own first suicide attempt was 14 years ago), indigenous people and homeless people will die prematurely, as if their lives did not matter. Right now, my mental health issues are on the MAID (medical assistance in dying) list. The 90-day waiting period poses a problem for Canadians who must wait months, even years, for the support and treatment they need. The government has further limited the number of sessions to eight to meet with an adviser, reducing the help people need,” Dack said.

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There is no scientific way to determine if someone with mental illness will get better. It’s very different from physical illnesses and conditions, Dack said. “I ask that you take the time to research this issue.”

Resources on the subject include:

1. Canadian Mental Health Association Position Statement on CMHA National “Medical Assistance in Dying”

2. The Center for Addiction and Mental Health

3. Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention—Statement on the Expansion of Physician-Assisted Dying to Persons Without Reasonably Foreseeable Death.

4. No Harm: New Canadian Law Allows Assisted Suicide for Patients with Psychiatric Disorders from Psychiatric Times, Vol. 38, number 6.

“The time to act is now before the October 17, 2022 deadline. Please support a bill that would prevent the expansion of MAID to encompass mental illness,” Dack said.