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http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=6029bc44-496e-45ec-93dd-0161d09fef05
Military breaks stigma of mental illness
Afghan mission puts emphasis on treatment
Kathryn May
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
If the military and the RCMP can break the stigma of mental illness as a character weakness, other Canadian employers should follow suit, says the organizer of a conference trying to convince businesses to do just that.
If they do, private employers could save billions of dollars, says Bill Wilkerson, chairman of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health.
He praised the military for its success in taking some of the stigma out of mental illness, which has become a significant workforce and productivity issue.
"The military and para-military have crossed the Rubicon in recognizing that mental illness is a real expression of ill health and not weak character," Mr. Wilkerson said.
"Here we have people with medals on their chests who are depressed. The value of the military and RCMP in breaking the stigma is that it can be done in the civilian community, where mental illness is still a sign of weakness."
Some of Canada's top business will meet today at the U.S.-Canada Forum on Mental Health and Productivity to hear how the military and Veterans Affairs made mental health a management and operational priority for the Armed Forces.
By next year, Veterans Affairs will have 10 mental health clinics in addition to similar clinics National Defence has on all its bases. The departments have teamed up to create a peer support network that has reduced the stigma of mental illness and is getting soldiers treated sooner and faster.
"If I was running a company and found out I was losing employees because they crashed and burned and were on sick leave, I'd want to know why and how to help them. That's lost productivity," said retired Col. Don Ethell, who served on 14 peacekeeping missions and chairs the advisory committee for peer support groups helping soldiers across the country.
"With the appropriate treatment and sensitivity, people can be brought around."
Mental health is emerging as the biggest unfunded liability facing government and businesses. Disability claims in Canada are climbing, and between 30 to 40 per cent of claims are for depression. According to the forum, the economic cost exceeds $50 billion a year, not including the cost of prescription drugs to treat patients outside hospitals.
Military officials admit it took Canada's involvement in Afghanistan to put the issue at the top of their health agenda.
National Defence's Deputy Surgeon General, Hans Jung, a captain in the Navy, says the "intensity" of the Afghanistan war, where soldiers have faced more combat and more tours of duty than the Canadian Forces have had in years, accelerated the need to address mental health.
Veterans Affairs estimates about 11,000 of its 149,000 veterans are receiving benefits for mental conditions, compared to 3,500 a decade ago. The most worrisome is the growing number of cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Also known as "shell shock" and "battle fatigue," PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder that occurs after seeing or experiencing a trauma, often involving a death or injury. It's episodic and can surface immediately or take years to appear.
A 2002 survey found that 2.8 per cent of Forces members had PTSD and 7.2 per cent faced a lifetime risk of developing it, which was slightly lower than the average Canadian. However, the latest survey showed that 6.5 per cent of troops deployed to Afghanistan have developed PTSD.
Capt. Jung said mental health problems went untreated because soldiers were afraid to seek help and risk their careers. The 2002 survey showed more than one-half of Canadian Forces personnel with PTSD waited nearly six years before seeking help.
Today, more than 53 per cent are treated within six months of symptoms showing up.
Still, many argue the biggest innovation is a peer support program run by Defence and Veterans Affairs. For the first time, a trained network of counsellors, who themselves battle mental illness, are on call to help soldiers and their families deal with anything from depression to alcoholism to bereavement. These counsellors can make referrals to the clinics, which is faster than waiting for referrals from physicians.
"I was an infantryman and the attitude was 'Suck it up and keep going,' and stigma will always be there," Col. Ethell said. "Someone who has a problem isn't going to run into a clinic with 'Mental Health' hanging over the door. They'll talk to someone who has been there, experienced it and the meeting place is more likely to be a Tim Hortons where they (counsellors) can guide them and help get them to the clinic."
However, Capt. Jung says changes in attitude come slowly. "The stigma will never go away without changing views and values about mental health and that means 'cultural change,' which takes years. It has taken us 10 years to get here, and I'd say the major progress will be in the 10 years ahead. It is so ingrained in the culture."
Canada's mental health crisis goes beyond the military and emergency workers facing trauma on the job. Absenteeism, disability claims, stress and the incidence of chronic illnesses associated with depression -- cardiovascular, diabetes, respiratory and addictions -- are increasing at alarming rates across the private and public sectors.
The public sector is the hardest hit, driving home the idea that poorly managed workplaces are creating sick cultures. Disability claims in the federal public service doubled in the decade between 1992 and 2002, and that was before the clampdown after the sponsorship scandal that many argue has made working conditions worse. Treasury Board is holding its own conference on mental-health issues next week.
The military's success can be easily transplanted to other police forces, firefighters, paramedics and other front-line emergency workers, but many question if they can be adapted to government and business.
Linda Duxbury, a business professor at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business who specializes in workplace issues, says workers, especially bureaucrats, face much broader and more pervasive stressors: lousy working conditions and "work intensification."
"The bulk of the people with depression and anxiety aren't in combat and getting shot at, but are working in bad work environments with abusive bosses, little control over what they do and increased demands and workload," she said. "Even the Mounties, it's not being shot at that's the problem, it's work intensification. They don't get enough sleep, too much work, torn between family and work, working for jerks and always coping with shifting priorities."
Ms. Duxbury partly chalked the growing stress of the public service up to an extra layer of management: politicians. "They're screwed up by another layer of leadership whose goals are completely different than the public servants'. They want to get re-elected, and they treat public servants with utter disrespect."
It strips people of motivation, wears them down and leads to depression, she said.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
Excellent article.
The portion I have highlighted in Green referrs to the OSISS program.
dileas
tess
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=6029bc44-496e-45ec-93dd-0161d09fef05
Military breaks stigma of mental illness
Afghan mission puts emphasis on treatment
Kathryn May
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
If the military and the RCMP can break the stigma of mental illness as a character weakness, other Canadian employers should follow suit, says the organizer of a conference trying to convince businesses to do just that.
If they do, private employers could save billions of dollars, says Bill Wilkerson, chairman of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health.
He praised the military for its success in taking some of the stigma out of mental illness, which has become a significant workforce and productivity issue.
"The military and para-military have crossed the Rubicon in recognizing that mental illness is a real expression of ill health and not weak character," Mr. Wilkerson said.
"Here we have people with medals on their chests who are depressed. The value of the military and RCMP in breaking the stigma is that it can be done in the civilian community, where mental illness is still a sign of weakness."
Some of Canada's top business will meet today at the U.S.-Canada Forum on Mental Health and Productivity to hear how the military and Veterans Affairs made mental health a management and operational priority for the Armed Forces.
By next year, Veterans Affairs will have 10 mental health clinics in addition to similar clinics National Defence has on all its bases. The departments have teamed up to create a peer support network that has reduced the stigma of mental illness and is getting soldiers treated sooner and faster.
"If I was running a company and found out I was losing employees because they crashed and burned and were on sick leave, I'd want to know why and how to help them. That's lost productivity," said retired Col. Don Ethell, who served on 14 peacekeeping missions and chairs the advisory committee for peer support groups helping soldiers across the country.
"With the appropriate treatment and sensitivity, people can be brought around."
Mental health is emerging as the biggest unfunded liability facing government and businesses. Disability claims in Canada are climbing, and between 30 to 40 per cent of claims are for depression. According to the forum, the economic cost exceeds $50 billion a year, not including the cost of prescription drugs to treat patients outside hospitals.
Military officials admit it took Canada's involvement in Afghanistan to put the issue at the top of their health agenda.
National Defence's Deputy Surgeon General, Hans Jung, a captain in the Navy, says the "intensity" of the Afghanistan war, where soldiers have faced more combat and more tours of duty than the Canadian Forces have had in years, accelerated the need to address mental health.
Veterans Affairs estimates about 11,000 of its 149,000 veterans are receiving benefits for mental conditions, compared to 3,500 a decade ago. The most worrisome is the growing number of cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Also known as "shell shock" and "battle fatigue," PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder that occurs after seeing or experiencing a trauma, often involving a death or injury. It's episodic and can surface immediately or take years to appear.
A 2002 survey found that 2.8 per cent of Forces members had PTSD and 7.2 per cent faced a lifetime risk of developing it, which was slightly lower than the average Canadian. However, the latest survey showed that 6.5 per cent of troops deployed to Afghanistan have developed PTSD.
Capt. Jung said mental health problems went untreated because soldiers were afraid to seek help and risk their careers. The 2002 survey showed more than one-half of Canadian Forces personnel with PTSD waited nearly six years before seeking help.
Today, more than 53 per cent are treated within six months of symptoms showing up.
Still, many argue the biggest innovation is a peer support program run by Defence and Veterans Affairs. For the first time, a trained network of counsellors, who themselves battle mental illness, are on call to help soldiers and their families deal with anything from depression to alcoholism to bereavement. These counsellors can make referrals to the clinics, which is faster than waiting for referrals from physicians.
"I was an infantryman and the attitude was 'Suck it up and keep going,' and stigma will always be there," Col. Ethell said. "Someone who has a problem isn't going to run into a clinic with 'Mental Health' hanging over the door. They'll talk to someone who has been there, experienced it and the meeting place is more likely to be a Tim Hortons where they (counsellors) can guide them and help get them to the clinic."
However, Capt. Jung says changes in attitude come slowly. "The stigma will never go away without changing views and values about mental health and that means 'cultural change,' which takes years. It has taken us 10 years to get here, and I'd say the major progress will be in the 10 years ahead. It is so ingrained in the culture."
Canada's mental health crisis goes beyond the military and emergency workers facing trauma on the job. Absenteeism, disability claims, stress and the incidence of chronic illnesses associated with depression -- cardiovascular, diabetes, respiratory and addictions -- are increasing at alarming rates across the private and public sectors.
The public sector is the hardest hit, driving home the idea that poorly managed workplaces are creating sick cultures. Disability claims in the federal public service doubled in the decade between 1992 and 2002, and that was before the clampdown after the sponsorship scandal that many argue has made working conditions worse. Treasury Board is holding its own conference on mental-health issues next week.
The military's success can be easily transplanted to other police forces, firefighters, paramedics and other front-line emergency workers, but many question if they can be adapted to government and business.
Linda Duxbury, a business professor at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business who specializes in workplace issues, says workers, especially bureaucrats, face much broader and more pervasive stressors: lousy working conditions and "work intensification."
"The bulk of the people with depression and anxiety aren't in combat and getting shot at, but are working in bad work environments with abusive bosses, little control over what they do and increased demands and workload," she said. "Even the Mounties, it's not being shot at that's the problem, it's work intensification. They don't get enough sleep, too much work, torn between family and work, working for jerks and always coping with shifting priorities."
Ms. Duxbury partly chalked the growing stress of the public service up to an extra layer of management: politicians. "They're screwed up by another layer of leadership whose goals are completely different than the public servants'. They want to get re-elected, and they treat public servants with utter disrespect."
It strips people of motivation, wears them down and leads to depression, she said.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
Excellent article.
The portion I have highlighted in Green referrs to the OSISS program.
dileas
tess
