Category: Uncategorized

Content warning: discussion of ableism and health inequality

The Tyee recently published a summary of a BC Centre for Disease Control Environmental Health Services presentation (viewable here) analyzing deaths that occurred this summer during the catastrophic heat dome. The presentation concluded that “people with schizophrenia were at four times higher risk [of death] during the heat dome” – above and beyond people living with cardiovascular conditions, Alzheimer’s, or dementia. This finding is tragic, infuriating, and unacceptable. Unfortunately, for some of us who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, it may not be surprising. People diagnosed with schizophrenia experience high rates of poverty, social isolation, lack of access to medical care, chronic physical illness, interpersonal violence, and other factors that can lead to worse health outcomes, including shorter life expectancy. This is not a result of the individual experiences (e.g. hearing voices) leading to diagnosis. It is a social problem resulting from discrimination and deep inequality. This is a failure of access: to social support, to safe and trustworthy medical care, to proper housing to rest in, to green spaces to cool off. It doesn’t have to be this way.

As the climate crisis progresses, the impacts will be felt disproportionately by the most marginalized in society, including people with psychosocial disabilities, Mad people, voice-hearers, and others. Responding to the challenges posed by extreme weather is a mental health and disability justice issue, and will require building strong communities. Together, we’re resilient. Please look out for one another.

During the heat dome, one volunteer-run project that helped to distribute water and cold drinks to those in need around the Lower Mainland was the Vancouver Community Fridge Project. If you’re interested in learning more about the project or getting involved, click here.

I’d like to acknowledge today as a day of reflection and mourning, while also recognizing that, because National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is not a statutory holiday in BC, many people haven’t been able to take the time off work today to grieve for their families and communities.

The ongoing legacies of colonization, occupation, cultural genocide, and intergenerational trauma are deeply intertwined with health and wellbeing – emotional, physical, and spiritual. Understanding the histories and present day realities of the land we live on and the communities we live in is an important part of understanding ourselves, including, for many people, our experiences with voices and visions.

If, like me, you’re a settler on the land where you currently live, I’d like to extend a few opportunities for learning and giving today. One place to start is by making a financial contribution to an Indigenous-led charitable organization: https://www.onedayspay.ca/

You can also view the ODP guide to deeper engagement, which has a list of questions to ask yourself as a starting point to learn more about the land you’re on, the communities around you, the histories you share, and your relationship to settlement.

If you’re not sure whose territory you’re on, some websites that might help as a starting point include:

• First Peoples’ Map of BC – includes languages, art, cultural/heritage points of interest: https://maps.fpcc.ca/languages
• Native Land – allows searching by address: https://native-land.ca/
• British Columbia Assembly of First Nations – interactive map which provides written information about different regions and communities: https://www.bcafn.ca/first-nations-bc/interactive-map

If you haven’t read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, you can find them here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf

If you aren’t familiar with the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, you can find a guide to understanding it here: https://www.indigenousbar.ca/pdf/undrip_handbook.pdf

You can watch (live or recorded) video events streamed by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation here: https://nctr.ca/education/trw/general-public-schedule/

I hope everyone is able to reflect and/or act in whatever ways feel right, and I hope the rest of today is as gentle as possible for everyone who’s struggling. If you’re Indigenous and in need of support, you can call the following crisis line numbers 24/7:

• Indian Residential School Survivors Society: 1-800-721-0066
• KUU-US Crisis Line: 1-800-588-8717

Hi everyone, apologies to those who were hoping to attend the North Vancouver Voices & Visions support group today (July 8th). The group has been cancelled for this evening. The next session will take place on the 4th Thursday of the month as usual, on July 22nd. We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to seeing you at the next session!

Content warning: discussion of anti-Indigenous racism, genocide

If you are in need of support, please call:

• The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
• KUU-US Crisis Line: 1-800-588-8717
• Tsow-Tun-Le-Lum Society toll-free line: 1-888-403-3123; main office 250-390-3123
• Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society main office 604-985-4464; toll-free 1-800-721-0066

Over the last several weeks, following the detection of 215 unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, over 1300 unmarked graves have been located at 6 residential school sites across Canada. Today, Cowessess First Nation announced the detection of 751 unmarked graves near the former Marieval Indian Residential School. It is important to note that the knowledge that Indigenous children were killed at residential schools – by neglect and abuse, and as an act of cultural genocide – is not new. Indigenous survivors and their communities have testified for years about the violence of residential schools, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s final 2015 report estimated thousands of deaths of Indigenous children at residential schools, many of them whose names were not recorded. Nevertheless, the grief and horror of having these and other deaths confirmed is immense.

The BCHVN recognizes this is an enormously difficult time for many. We recognize that words alone cannot ease the suffering of the past or the present. We recognize that distress is rational response to the violence of colonization – including not only the traumatic legacy of the residential school system, but the ongoing occupation of Indigenous lands and disenfranchisement and criminalization of Indigenous communities. As a grassroots network supporting people who hear voices, see visions, experience extreme states, or who have other unusual sensory experiences, we believe in the importance of understanding mental and emotional health within the context of people’s lives. This includes reckoning with Canada’s colonial past and present.

We encourage non-Indigenous readers to review the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s final report, linked above. We also encourage you to review the TRC’s Calls to Action report to learn more about what steps you can take towards justice. If you are able, we also encourage you to donate directly to Indigenous-led organizations and initiatives. You can donate to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society here. You can browse a list of Indigenous organizations in BC here.

The Chilliwack Hearing Voices group will now be hosted by Communitas Peer Support and will be held over Zoom every Monday at 6 pm. Anyone in BC is welcome to attend, but people in the Fraser Valley region are particularly encouraged to check out the group! For more information, please visit the Communitas website here: https://peersupportcsc.com/service/hearing-voices/

As a reminder, if you’re unsure of what to expect at Hearing Voices support groups or whether they’re right for you, an information session and community roundtable will be taking place over Zoom tomorrow, May 6th, from 5-6 pm (PST).

We hope to see you there!

Voices & Visions Virtual Support Groups