Mental health sector looking for answers

There needs to be a better response to mental health issues in the region, and around the country.

That’s one of the messages as the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) held a panel talk in Timmins Wednesday afternoon.

It featured someone dealing with issues, to an attorney that deals with people that unfortunately fall into the criminal justice system and a man at the CMHA that has seemingly seen it all in a near 20-year career.

“As a health system, it’s often very reactive so we wait for people to get ill,” Cochrane-Timiskaming CMHA Manager Mark Lionello.

“But there’s a real value in being able to be proactive…what keeps people healthy as well, what can act as a buffer?”

Talking about it is one thing, but Lionello says more cases continue to pop up, which he says is okay as perhaps they’re identifying more cases with more awareness being spread.

But he adds the numbers are still there.

And while many do fall into trouble with the law, the issues goes beyond the criminal system.

“(Is that issue) a failure in the area of health, it’s hard to say,” says Lionello, “The justice system is not built to be able to manage these kinds of issues.  We’ve put things in place but I think in essence maybe it’d be fair to say it’s still a bit of a band aid in terms of the overwhelming numbers that we have and that we’re dealing with.”

“Whatever we’re doing, we’re mitigating the issue.  We’re not maybe perhaps dealing with it appropriately.”

The local CMHA dealt with almost 2,300 people last year alone.