Counsellors discuss depression on “Open Your Eyes”

The topic of this morning’s Open Your Eyes was mental health. Speaking on the issue was recurring Channel Five judge, Jennifer Lovell who has a master’s degree in counseling and mental health; and psychiatric nurse Eleanor Bennett. On the subject of depression, Bennett and Lovell related that it is typical for persons to feel sad after the holidays, but if the mood does not eventually lift, that individual should seek help.

Jenny Lovell, Counsellor
“People tend to fall into what we call holiday blues prior to the holidays and after the holidays it’s post holiday blues; people are going back to work, their expectations haven’t been met or they spent too much money, so they are suffering the blues. If it becomes pervasive, then you need to go see my friend over here.”

Eleanor Bennett, Psychiatric Nurse
“And not only the sad mood; if you find that it’s really, really hard to just function at work, you are fatigued, you can’t find your energy, maybe you can’t concentrate, you’re irritable, restless, those kinds of things.”

Jenny Lovell
“Eating too much or not eating, sleeping too much, too little. Those are all symptoms that could be the blues if it’s short-term, but if it becomes extended, then it is depression.”

Eleanor Bennett
“Depression is a treatable disease, it’s a real disease because there is a biological reason why people get depressed; it’s not just oh I’m depressed, there is actually something wrong with you in your biology. It’s a disease that you would need to get treated for, it’s something that you would be medicated for.”

Depression and many other mental illnesses can be treated, but many people do not seek help. This not only contributes to a worsening of their condition, which along with stigma results in the person being put out on the streets by family members or becoming homeless because they can no longer support themselves. This morning Bennett spoke of a community treatment programme which recently started in December. That initiative seeks to address the needs of persons with mental problems living on the streets using a two-pronged approach.

Eleanor Bennett
“You are treating them and then providing some sort of rehabilitation at the same time. Now how this program works, we have a team of people that go out on the streets and we find the patients, particularly those who are homeless and who would benefit from being on medication constantly and these are the patients we work with because once they are on medication they are stable enough that they can function. So these people that are walking on the road and all over the place, what we intend to do is get them on medication, follow them almost every day to see what other needs they have. It might be housing, it my be food, it might be getting a bath; those sorts of things and our team is going to take care of that for each and every patient that is on the street.”

As for the Mental Health Association, they are trying to raise funds to open a resource centre which will offer services such as meals, a shower, and rehabilitation for homeless persons with mental conditions. The Mennonite community has already donated twenty thousand dollars to the effort, while the City Council has offered a plot of land.