Have you ever wished you could live in a quiet peaceful place somewhere in the country? Because city living is just too stressful? Studies back up exactly how you feel. Brain imaging studies have found that living in a city or growing up in one can affect brain function during a stressful situation. According...
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I came home that night to find something white sticking out between the door jamb and the wall. The business card of a Detective Cook from the Special Investigations Unit. I turned it over. “Grace Cherian. Please call. It’s in relation to your brother.” My brother, Wilson, born nine years after...
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I shall never forget the summer of 2000. I had said goodbye to my friends at WycliffeCollege. I lived alone. Worked alone. I isolated myself. Friends would call me. But I wouldn’t answer the phone. Bipolar disorder, with its many ravaging faces, had stalked me for 28 years. During manic phases,...
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I remember when it first hit me. A tender seventeen-year-old. I couldn’t concentrate in class. This really scared me. I’ve always loved school. Brought home excellent grades. Suddenly, my greatest strength was being attacked. My whole identity was at stake. And I didn’t understand what was happening....
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One in five Canadians suffer from mental illness. It attacks people of all ages, educational and income levels, and cultures. Unfortunately, most of us won’t seek treatment. Why? It’s very difficult to talk about mental illness. It carries a stigma that leads to discrimination. We're afraid we’ll...
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People with mental illness experience changes in thinking, mood or behaviour (or some combination of them). Mental illness causes a great deal of distress and impaired functioning over an extended period of time. The symptoms of mental illness vary from mild to severe, depending on the type of mental...
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