News Highlights: Connexions Summer 2004

At the Centre

The Honourable James K. Bartleman receiving a Courage to Come Back Award

Over 80 nominations were received for this year's eleventh annual 2004 Courage to Come Back Awards. At a gala awards dinner on May 20 hosted by CAMH's Foundation and presented by RBC Capital Markets, seven recipients from across Ontario, including the Honourable James K. Bartleman, Ontario's Lieutenant Governor and CAMH's Honourary Patron, were recognized. Those chosen to receive a Courage award have experienced great challenges living with addiction and/or mental illness and are models of hope and inspiration to others.

Alcohol, Trauma and Impaired Driving

CAMH recently partnered with MADD Canada on Alcohol, Trauma and Impaired Driving, a document that's a single, fully referenced source of current facts on alcohol and trauma with Canadian and occasional international information on consumption patterns, costs of alcohol use and impaired driving facts. The PDF version can be found on camh.net through the link above. For single copies, call CAMH's R. Samuel McLaughlin Addiction and Mental Health Information Centre at 1 800 463-6273 or 416 595-6111 in Toronto.

Annual meeting draws crowd

Ontario Health Minister, George Smitherman, at CAMH's AGM

This year's annual meeting on June 24, 2004 attracted a big crowd to the Queen Street site. In addition to the business meeting and a tour of the new Jean Simpson Studio, attendees listened to an announcement by Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman (see Site Speak column, right), and they saw a documentary featuring an exciting client employment initiative, the Urban Garden on the grounds of the Queen Street site. (A copy of the documentary can be borrowed with identification from the Russell Street site library.) Attendees also received a copy of the annual report, which highlights diversity. For a copy of the report, contact Public Affairs at 416-535-8501, ext. 4250.

Self-help guide for newcomers

Alone in Canada: 21 Ways to Make it Better, is a self-help guide for single newcomers developed at CAMH. The primary goal of this booklet is to decrease the amount of post-migration stresses, facilitate resettling in Canada and promote physical and mental health. The booklet was first published in English and French in 2001 and, due to popularity and demand, was also translated into Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Spanish, Somali, Tamil, Urdu, Bengali, Dari, Hindi, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Tagalog and Twi. All 18 languages are now available in print form and will be online at www.camh.net; some translations are available online at http://www.settlement.org/site/REFERENCE/ref_pubs.asp

To order a free booklet, call CAMH's R. Samuel McLaughlin Addiction and Mental Health Information Centre at 416 595-6111 in Toronto or 1 800 463-6273 in Ontario. For orders of more than 50, contact CAMH's Marketing and Sales Services at 416 535-8591, x4090 in Toronto or 1 800 661-1111 in Ontario.

Teen mental health

One in 10 students (Grades 7-12) report experiencing multiple mental health issues including symptoms of depression and anxiety, problem drinking, other drug use and anti-social behaviour such as theft, vandalism or violence according to CAMH's Mental Health and Well-Being of Ontario Students Report, released in May 2004. The mental health and well-being survey results were collected as part of CAMH's ongoing Ontario Student Drug Use Survey (OSDUS) and will continue to be reported every two years. Highlights of the study include:

Approximately one-third of students have been bullied or have taken part in bullying other students.
Over one-in-eight students have had serious thoughts about suicide in the past year, with significantly more females than males reporting this.

CAMH provides treatment services and has implemented a number of clinical, educational, research and program development initiatives for adolescents with addiction and/or mental health issues. A list of these initiatives is available in the Research section of camh.net and a PDF version of the executive summary of the mental health report is available at http://www.camh.net/pdf/osdusmh2003_execsum.pdf