Kim Mackenzie of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s BC Chapter shares the latest on the Peer Assisted Care Teams (PACT) that the organization is rolling out across BC to help deal with mental health emergencies in communities.

A group of housing providers are saying we need to tweak some of our systems and attitudes around supportive housing. In a column that appeared in the Victoria Times Colonist last month, they called for changes to the Residential Tenancy Act, and identified a tendency towards “firefighting” rather than systematic investments in solutions. The column […]

“Punk rock saved my life” is a phrase you’ll find often in Scream Therapy: A Punk Journey Through Mental Health, a new book from Jason Schreurs. Informed by his lifelong membership in the punk community, it tells the story of Schreurs’ life navigating a bipolar diagnosis in his late forties, and the punks he learns […]

It likely wouldn’t surprise you to hear that people with serious mental health conditions like schizophrenia, experience stigma. Family members and others close to a person with a mental health condition can experience discrimination as well, a concept called stigma by association. A new study from York University found that one in three family members […]

Christopher Andersen is crossing the country for a cause, and he’s doing it on inline skates. The Ladysmith resident has nearly 500 wheels to get him from Whistler to Newfoundland. He set off on Monday, the start of The Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Week. Anderson lives with bipolar, attention deficit, and hyperactivity disorders. […]

Natalie Frandsen, assistant teaching professor at the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria, discusses how online courses could better support student mental health.The subject was the topic of Frandsen’s doctoral thesis, as well as a recent article in The Conversation.      

Jordan Reems is taking the stage to share a deeply personal story. For more than a year, Jordan has been learning and practicing his little brother Anthony’s songs. Anthony passed away in 2021. He was a talented musician. On Friday April 28th, Jordan will be sharing some of Anthony’s music in The Sound Is Lost, […]

Nearly ten years ago, Natalie Senik says a doctor told her that because of her mental health, she would never work or be in a relationship again. Now Senik has flipped the script. The Victoria resident has been working in peer support following a career change a few years ago. She also writes about her […]

Dr. Joshua Greggain, President of Doctors of British Columbia, discusses the situation around walk-in clinics in Nanaimo and the surrounding region.  

Located in Fanny Bay, Operation Freedom Paws helps people who have experienced challenges like post traumatic stress disorder, and type 1 diabetes train their own service dogs. People First Radio’s Joe Pugh paid a visit to a day of training to learn more about the program.