scrubbedexpat091

Unemployment in Canada for those with major mental illness is 70% to 90%, and 30% with those with depression/anxiety disorders.

https://cmha.bc.ca/documents/unemplo...substance-use/


I think this time around it's better to stay unemployed vs working stressful dead end low wage jobs that make my mental health issues worse.

My last company was okay until they started expanding too quickly, then it became a high stress, always short staffed, chaotic work environment which is why I ended up losing it, the first year it was fine, really quite the perfect job.

Expatrick

And

(My bold)

Starting to have my doubts...

scrubbedexpat091

Just how a bpd brain works, one day we hate something and bored with it, next day we miss it and want it back.

Danny B

sounds like me with vehicles.

scrubbedexpat091

Trying to, just not doing well seems each day I get worse and the stress of hitting brick walls in search of help is not helping. Even my wife is finally starting to realize what I have been dealing with over the years with finding help. There are some possibilities but they are not confirmed yet so can't assume those possibilities will turn into something.

I have more or less figured out what to take training wise, just need to figure out how to fund it and obviously no guarantee I will be capable of passing and succeeding but there never is, can't predict if you can learn something or not. The training wont lead to a high wage, the wage is about $2.50 more per hour but all the jobs like most in healthcare are casual, so who knows what the per year average wage would be, but my last job I worked anywhere from 45 hours a week to 20 hours a week depending on season.

BEVS

- is the correct answer

BPD in simple terms means impulsive behaviours and illogical rationales.

Like those with depression , it is not always possible to pick oneself up , dust one's self down and look forward. The chemicals and make up of the brain doesn't allow it . Worse is if the person is self-aware that they are not functioning as others do & so see themselves as abnormal, unlikeable, hopeless .

Now , BE is not a mental health forum . We all know that. Justin knows this. All we can do is be there and try to help him keep his eyes forward . Not give up .

With regard to his last job.
He enjoys working in that industry. He liked the work well enough. He actually managed to stick it for a good while despite the BPD sitting like a bad gremlin on his shoulder.

I am not sure that it was boredom that saw him off although repetitive work gives the mind more time to think and by default gives the BPD more time to fester & spin out of control . More like it was the interaction with other employees that caused issues.

Me too. You will have already tried this but would an anger management course help a bit. Give you some tricks on when to 'let it go' , 'leave it'. Mind you I can be the world's worst at this myself.

Let's try and list all the things that us lot know you can do and are good at.

Actually Justin - everyone else back off a little and let's have Justin try and do this -

Justin - you name me something you are good at. In fact more than one thing. I can think of several quickly but for you it may take a bit longer to bring yourself to write your good stuff.

spouse of scouse

If it's difficult for you to understand BPD and the devastating effect it has on a person's ability to study, work, interact and live, then imagine how much more difficult it is for the person living with the condition - and being doubted as well.

Expatrick

Great piece of assumption SoS - Actually it's not. I have, through my life, suffered problems with studying, working, interacting & living (& sometimes still do) - and being doubted (& shunned).

​​​​​

spouse of scouse

Sorry to hear you've been in a bit of a downward spiral lately J, BPD sucks. Keep plugging away as best you can mate.

scrubbedexpat091

I don't understand why society forces people to live. I don't have a quality life, I am completely and utterly miserable. I have no supports, I am pretty much isolated because nobody wants anything to do with me, and never have really this is a fact of life.

The mental anguish of a severe mental health problem is just as much pain and suffering as physical, just in a different way, complex mental health disorders like mine are not temporary, the problems I am facing are not temporary, the person who made up that quote obviously has never suffered from a complex mental health disorder because if they had, they would not believe such a quote.

People can claim there is adequate help up the wall all day everyday, doesn't make it so.

Therapy isn't one of those things that something is better than nothing, 6 visits to a therapist does nothing for a complex issue, wont even get close to the root causes and how to live, accept and cope in such a short time.

Like one doctor recently said in a mental health article, the government and companies spend all this money on flashy websites, and TV commercials for awareness but do very little to actually help people, and this is the truth and reality of Canada.

Even if someone has the funds, there are still very few places in Canada where someone like me can even get adequate help, it's why so many who do have the funds, go to the US for 6 months for treatment.

Root of the issue is Canadian society doesn't care enough about mental health, and by extension neither does the government, as long as voters don't hold politicians accountable for their failures nothing will ever change.

If Canada had true universal healthcare it would include mental health in full, not just medication.




Plus my wife may not employed past December 23, which is gonna suck and it sucks not knowing but it is what it is, at least it wont be complete surprise if they tell her she is no longer employed.

Jerseygirl

It’s not only Canada, the US doesn’t care either, unless you can pay.

Edit: I think it will change, but it will be a slow change. There are so many influential people/celebrities talking about mental health issues now.

moneypenny20

Does any country have good (not even great) mental health support? I'm pretty sure it's way down on every country's list of priorities sadly.

spouse of scouse

J, if you're interesting in BPD treatment in Oz this is a good website. I'll link to the 'find a service' page but there's more to the site than that. Services are broken down by State and then areas within that State. I had a quick look at the first tab (New South Wales I think), if a service is private or needs health insurance it's noted, otherwise I presume it's available at no cost under Medicare (which covers all Australians). What it doesn't show is if there is a waiting list for each service, and if so how long those lists are.
https://www.uow.edu.au/project-air/find-a-service/

scrubbedexpat091

Does seem maybe Australia at least parts of it may have better overall access.

I think what brings Canada down is our healthcare system is 100% government funded, no private insurance options, so it keeps some aspects of healthcare somewhat limited since without private insurance, it's very difficult to self pay, and so we don't end up with great options treatment wise if you can pay for it.

Canada largely only covers 2 things, psychiatrists and medication and medication coverage varies, 50 years ago medications were about the only options, but now we know medication isn't always the best choice, and secondly we know that some disorders don't respond to, and can't effectively be treated with medication such as BPD.

Canada is one of the only countries where medication is still first line of treatment for BPD, I believe we are one of the only alongside Cuba that bans private insurance and forces everyone into the public system.


It's just frustrating and limits quality of life, and ability to function in society. And leads to isolation because most people want nothing to do with untreated mentally ill, and isolation further compounds it all, as isolation tends to make mental health worse.

scrubbedexpat091

Interesting article I came across tonight searching for something.

A few key points though, and man does Canada ever get it wrong when it comes to treating BPD and related type disorders.

- depressive symptoms occur in those with BPD are due to an identifiable stressor, (rejection, abandonment, etc) and tends to remit when the stressor is removed. Depressive symptoms may also be a way to communicate what the person is feeling on the inside emotionally.

- when only the depression is treated the symptoms perpetuate, but when BPD symptoms are addressed the depression subsides.


"Major depressive disorder (MDD) is not a significant predictor of outcome for BPD, but BPD is a significant predictor of outcome for MDD. "

It's no real surprise why medication does nothing for me, and if I had access to adequate and consistent therapy, and skills classes, my depressive feelings likely would resolve.

https://www.newharbinger.com/blog/co...rent-those-bpd


This one is from Australia, it's probably not too far off in Canada numbers wise, link to article below, I paraphrased some of it.

For every 100 patients treated at inpatient psychiatric wards, 43 will have BPD. (this even surprised me)

BPD is more of a complex reaction trauma with an outdated name.

While society has come a long way in accepting mental health in general, we are lagging behind in our attitude towards BPD.

Most people with BPD have sustained major trauma in their childhood. (I certainly did) can be sexual, physical, neglect, separation from parents to name a few.

trauma – particularly physical and sexual abuse has been shown to be near-ubiquitous in patients with BPD..

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder does not list trauma as diagnostic factor in BPD, because of this it's still viewed as a personality disorder and patients with BPD face massive amounts of stigma from healthcare providers.

BPD is best thought of as a trauma-spectrum disorder, similiar to complex or chronic PTSD.

PTSD and BPD share many similarities.

Personality disorder label can make patients and those around them view them in a more negative way.

Clinicians often harbor negative views of those with BPD and those sorts of attitudes from healthcare professionals are seen far less often with PTSD and other trauma spectrum disorders.


https://theconversation.com/we-need-...-trauma-115549


Those with BPD are often told not to tell healthcare providers of the BPD diagnoses, that is how widespread the stigma is within healthcare and despite what healthcare policy makers think in Canada, BPD and other complex trauma disorders cannot be medicated away.


Side note observation, when I google search BPD, there is far more resources that come up in my searches for the US (this one is a given considering the population and facilities there) but was surprised me more, is I get more Australian based resources in searches than Canadian based, and the Canadian based ones are often sparse and of very little use, just an observation I have made.)