Quebec organizations calling for better access to mental health resources

Mental health resources badly needed Community groups who support people living with mental illness say more support is needed, even as pandemic restrictions are over.

A group of community organizations are calling for Quebecers to have better access to mental health resources other than hospitals and psychiatry on the occasion of World Mental Health Day on Monday.

Several dozen people gathered in the October cold in Square Saint-Louis, in Montreal's Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, in an event organized by the Quebec group for alternative mental health resources (RRASMQ).

It is necessary "to significantly increase the budget of the public mental health network so that there is quality care and support that is quickly accessible," said Anne-Marie Boucher, co-responsible for political action at the RRASMQ.

The public system, "at the moment, looks like waiting lists, it looks like being condemned to wait, unless there is a real emergency situation," she said, adding that even in these cases, "it is not said that we will receive support quickly."

She also called on the government to better support community groups that have an "alternative" approach.

In these psychosocial resources, "we deal with the crisis, the difficulties, the intensity in a different way than in hospital, without violence, without coercion, without a diagnosis, with a global approach that takes into account the history of the person, their traumas, their experiences, that takes the time to listen, to welcome, that considers the person as an equal," she said.

She said, however, that before all of that, the housing crisis and poverty issue must be tackled head-on.

"Having decent living conditions "allows people to reduce their stress, to regain their balance, to have the means to take care of their mental health," said Boucher.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 10, 2022.