From the Regina Leader-Post, CanWest news service:

Michael Kirby, head of Canada’s Mental Health Commission, says the nation has made “the streets and the prisons the asylums of the 21st century” by closing institutions and then failing to provide community supports.

Kirby, a former senator who has a sister with severe depression, said he is fighting to reverse the overwhelming homelessness and stigma faced by people with mental illness.

When people were institutionalized, Kirby says, those with mental illness at least got three meals a day and a roof over their heads. Today, across the nation, there’s a lack of affordable, supportive housing for those who are mentally ill.

One in five Canadians experiences some form of mental or emotional health problem every year. Two-thirds will not seek treatment because they fear they will be labelled and viewed as dangerous, studies have suggested.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 10:43 am and is filed under institutionalization, international, mental health, stigma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post