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Mental health workers 'hopeful and also very tired' responding to unprecedented pandemic

Mental Health Week: North and West Vancouver CMHA director describes a year that challenged us all
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Julia Kaisla, executive director of the North and West Vancouver branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, says the pandemic has been incredibly challenging for people working in the mental health field, as well as members of the general public hit hard by the crisis.

When Julia Kaisla signed on as the executive director of the North and West Vancouver branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association about four years ago, she knew she was in for some challenging but rewarding work.

But nothing in her life could ever have prepared her for what happened three years later when the world was thrown into disarray by an unprecedented global pandemic. Coronavirus concerns spread through all aspects of life, from financial stability to personal health to social connections and beyond. Mental health challenges seemingly hit everyone in the world, including those like Kaisla whose job it is to help others navigate stressful times.

“It’s been hard,” said Kaisla of working in the mental health field during the pandemic. “It’s actually been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, I think.”

Providing mental health services during a pandemic has been a true learning experience for the team working out of the CMHA branch office on Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver.

“It’s challenged me and my team in ways that we couldn’t have anticipated, but I feel like we’re coming through it in a much stronger place,” said Kaisla. “I would say overall, though, once we get through the exhaustion of the last year, we feel both very hopeful and also very tired.”

There has been, quite understandably, a huge increase in demand for mental health services since the coronavirus crisis hit British Columbia in March 2020, and the North Shore CMHA team has done everything they can to accommodate requests.

“We’ve been able to pretty much double our counselling capacity, and we’re still seeing quite extensive waitlists,” said Kaisla. “We’re getting multiple calls a day to be added to our wait-list.”

Financial insecurity is one of the most common issues raised by people accessing the mental health association’s services during the pandemic.

“We’ve seen basically a tenfold increase in the amount of people coming to us asking for support to maintain their housing,” said Kaisla. “We’re reporting that 37 per cent of people in B.C. say their mental health has deteriorated since the start of the pandemic. And those who are experiencing unemployment, those who had a pre-existing mental health condition, or youth aged 18 to 24 are definitely being hit the hardest in terms of this data.”

Add it all up and it’s been an extremely challenging year for those seeking help, as well as the helpers themselves. But one thing that shines through for Kaisla through all of the challenges is the way community members have come through for each other throughout the crisis. The CMHA relies on volunteers as well as numerous partnerships with community organizations, faith groups, government agencies and more, and it’s been incredible to see community members spring into action, said Kaisla.

“I think that’s been the most humbling part of the last year, and really fulfilling,” she said. “We’ve always had active volunteers connected to CMHA, and people that wanted to be donors and contribute. But I think what I’ve seen in the North Shore community in the last year … [It’s] just a real coming together of compassionate community members who want to give back in whatever way they can.”

Kaisla highlighted a community partnership program called the Circle of Care housing project which connects people in need of housing and support with a network of partners who can provide shelter as well as care for our most vulnerable citizens.

“We’ve built new partnerships, we’ve actually tripled our housing sites for the Circle of Care project,” said Kaisla. “It’s been a really wonderful project, because it is working in partnership with the community.”

But the crisis is far from over, and so as Mental Health Week arrives, Kaisla had words of advice and encouragement for anyone who is feeling mental health strains.

“Our campaign is really around people feeling their feelings,” she said. “And I think feeling angry, sad, and anxious is all part of being human. So what we’re recommending is that people are compassionate with themselves, that they make space for these difficult emotions, so that they can move beyond that and try and access the things that bring them peace or joy.”

There are several Mental Health Week events listed on the association’s website, as well as a unique “wellness bingo” card featuring a number of activities known to help improve mental health. The bingo card was designed by students at North Vancouver’s Sutherland Secondary, and includes activities such as laughing out loud; taking a screen break; going outdoors; and texting or calling someone you love.

“It really is around the day-to-day things that we can all do to be both compassionate with ourselves and also find opportunities to find some peace,” said Kaisla, adding that the pandemic has been incredibly challenging but has also helped in the push to get mental health issues out in the open and part of the mainstream conversation.

“When we start to talk about mental health more openly across society, we just make it OK for people to have conversations so they don’t feel so alone,” she said. “Because the human existence does involve pain and struggle, and we really want people to come together during those times, rather than feeling like it’s only them who’s experiencing that difficulty.”

The pandemic has also given us all an opportunity to re-evaluate ourselves and our society and make changes that will ultimately put us in a better mental health space, said Kaisla.

“The pandemic has kind of given us a chance to rethink our lives and our work,” she said. “We’re starting to consider how we want to restructure our society and our own personal lives. … It’s really encouraging to be talking about how people access support when they need it. One of the conversations we’re having, and I think that the government is also having, is around how do we support people in times of mental health crisis? And how can we be more thoughtful about how we respond to different people during that time? So I’m very encouraged by the community’s willingness to have this conversation.”

This article was originally published in a Mental Health Week special feature section of the May 5 print edition of the North Shore News.