Kim Bellavance Photographe (www.kimbellavance.com)
Isabela Zabava
Finding the Way Back
Y
ears ago, Sean felt trapped. He had lost who he was and did not know how to get back.
Sean returned to his home town where he found himself homeless and at a crossroads.
He sought relief through selfmedication but that only led to addiction. Life felt overwhelming and he was losing his relationship with his two daughters.
despite their love for him, they did not know how to help. Finally, they could no longer witness him slowly disappearing and urged him to stand up and fight against the forces pulling him down.
Sean returned to his home town where he found himself homeless and at a crossroads. His daughters tried to support him as best they could but,
If Sean wanted his girls in his life, he would need to find the courage to make a change. He chose to reach out for help.
Sean’s mental health recovery began like the journeys of many other people navigating the challenges of mental illness—with a hospital stay. His doctor admitted him to a psychiatric ward where he remained for the initial months of his battle to find his way back to himself. Once discharged, he entered another mental health care centre in the hopes of continuing his journey. Following his institutional stays, Sean was connected to the Recovery and Rehabilitation Program at Riverview in Coquitlam, one of Coast Mental Health’s community-based mental health care facilities. There, Sean was able to begin to build his new life. Sean’s struggle with mental illness is unfortunately common throughout BC and beyond. Mental illness symptoms are often not identified before they progress to an advanced stage or before relief is sought through self-medicating with addictive substances. Lives can be derailed in an instant. Even when help is sought through the hospital-based system, little is known about the support that is needed beyond the hospital to maintain recovery. For many people, a hospital stay for an intense mental illness episode means that they lose their housing or their jobs or are unable to return to school. Any progress made during the hospital stay can be quickly lost.
Sean
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia
Volume 27 Number 4 Winter 2018
