Crazy talk

"Parents want a fast solution. They don't want to drive the kid to counselling every week. So the doctor pulls out his prescription pad..."

Oh, really?

I don't know about you, but that comment from Gordon Floyd simply doesn't ring true with me. Floyd is executive director of Children's Mental Health Ontario and made the comment to The Globe and Mail's Carolyn Abraham in her article this past weekend about the use of powerful psychiatric medications by young children.

You see, the parents I know who have navigated the mental health system with their children aren't exactly the type to go for the quick fix. They're resourceful and resilient, not because they are some sort of saintly breed of Supermoms and Superdads, but because that's what's required to advocate for your child within the child-youth mental health system in this country, particularly if you live outside a major city.

So what's with the retro "just blame mom and dad" attitude? If parents are unable to connect their kids with the types of services that they need, it's because of waiting lists or a shortage of services, not because the parents simply couldn't be bothered to take junior to a counselling appointment.

To be fair, Floyd acknowledges that there are other problems with the mental health system in Ontario - that there aren't the resources to provide intensive talk or cognitive therapy to the kids who need it. Who can argue with that? But when it comes to assigning blame, he's a little too quick to pin the blame on the very people who are already feeling bashed and battered by the child-youth mental health system in this country Mom and Dad.

Let me tell you a story about a mother whose child was going through a desperate time. She worried that things would never get better for her or her child. Sometimes she wondered if her child would ever grow up to be a young adult. She turned to the mental health system in her town, only to discover that it didn't have one — only something mirage-like that showed up on government flowcharts and funding diagrams, but that disappeared if real people got too close. One day a kindly police officer took that mother aside and gave her The Big Talk about the mental health facts of life. "If your child runs into trouble, head into the city. There is no mental health system for kids in this town."

Once the mother knew the truth, she felt free to stop letting her life and her child's life be ruled by the frustrating and arbitrary rules dictated by a system that wasn't really there in the first place. Her child grew healthier and stronger and the mother dared to start breathing and living her own life again. And the entire family got on with the business of being a family. I know because I was — I am — that mother.

Now over to you: What are your thoughts about the child-youth mental health system in this country? Do you feel that there's room for improvement?

Related articles:

• Who's calling who crazy?
• Significant changes needed to aid N.B. youth with mental illness