Mental Health in the North

Living and working in the North provides unique opportunities that range from positive to challenging and everything in between. We have shaped our own identity, language, hobbies and interests based on the landscape that we inhabit. This extends beyond how we live our lives into the opportunities for employment and type of work that we do. Skilled Trades have shaped the social and economical contexts of the Canadian North historically and will continue to do so into the future.

People who work in the remote North experience particular challenges that are unknown to those who work in urban settings. These include:

·       Isolation

·       Time away from family and friends

·       Job stress/risk of physical injury

·       Financial and job security

·       Stigma of mental health

·       Relationship strain

·       Limited access to resources

·       Harsh working conditions

·       Substance use

The emergence of understanding that mental and physical health and safety are not only linked but cannot be considered as separate entities has propelled the need for training and skill development in mental health to be an integrated part of safe and healthy workplaces. This includes training for people who work in the trades.

Mental Health in the North is a workshop designed to educate, raise awareness and reduce stigma for people who live and work in the North. This initiative was started in collaboration with the Ontario Iron Workers Local 759 and Koru Training and Consultation. As a resident of Northern Ontario, with experience working in Northern remote communities to deliver and develop mental health programming, I am committed to fostering improved mental health for those who live and work in the North.

Being a Buddy All Year Long: Some Thoughts on Bullying

My husband and I had a lively debate on the morning of Pink Shirt Day because our views on bullying (and many other things) differ. He thinks that the experience of bullying is subjective so it can’t really be defined. He feels that bullying is a problem with a fairly simple solution while I tend to see it from a bigger picture perspective. I feel like I have a larger stake in the understanding of bullying. As a mother, I neither want my children to be bullies nor be bullied by others. As a woman in a position of leadership, I always have to examine my behaviour to ensure that I am not participating in power dynamics that diminish people around me. Especially those where I am in the up power role. As an advocate, I have to ensure that I stand up for people when I see that they are being wronged. While I agree that bullying is a difficult problem to define, one thing that I can say for certain is that bullying is happening in our schools, workplaces and communities and it requires a multifaceted approach to find resolution.

Bullying can be either covert or overt, meaning that it can range from highly visible and obvious (ie. physical assault) to far more hidden in nature (ie. rumours, gossip, implied threats). Estimates of the prevalence of bullying amongst school children range from around 12-20% of kids reporting that they have experienced bullying recently. There are a number of differences that affect the rates of bullying including gender and being a part of a social subgroup. Youth who identify as part of the LGBTQ2*+ community experience much higher rates of bullying. Something that I found very interesting as I took a look at some of the research on bullying is according to the Red Cross, 71% of teachers say that they intervene in bullying while only 25% of students report teacher’s intervening. This is not a criticism of teachers. I think it speaks to the amount of victimization that happens outside of our line of sight.

Bullying and harassment don’t just occur in schools. Studies on workplace bullying from the University of Windsor state that 40% of people reported being bullied in the last 6 months. Bullying in the workplace leads to decreased productivity, higher costs in terms of absenteeism, sick leave and disability, increased turnover, higher levels of mental health concerns, increased substance use, physical health problems…the list goes on and on. This research also shows that human resources departments often don’t respond seriously to worker complaints and that the best course of action for a person being bullied at work is to quit. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety lists the following as examples of workplace bullying:

• Spreading malicious rumours, gossip, or innuendo.

• Excluding or isolating someone socially.

• Intimidating a person.

• Undermining or deliberately impeding a person's work.

• Physically abusing or threatening abuse.

• Removing areas of responsibilities without cause.

• Constantly changing work guidelines.

• Establishing impossible deadlines that will set up the individual to fail.

• Withholding necessary information or purposefully giving the wrong information.

• Making jokes that are 'obviously offensive' by spoken word or e-mail.

• Intruding on a person's privacy by pestering, spying or stalking.

• Assigning unreasonable duties or workload which are unfavourable to one person (in a way that creates unnecessary pressure).

• Underwork - creating a feeling of uselessness.

• Yelling or using profanity.

• Criticising a person persistently or constantly.

• Belittling a person's opinions.

• Unwarranted (or undeserved) punishment.

• Blocking applications for training, leave or promotion

I was disappointed to find that in a number of articles I came across, there was an undertone of blame that was directed at the targets of bullying. For example, the suggestion that children and adults who are more shy and anxious are more sensitive to the behaviour of others which may lead them to label these behaviours as bullying. Or the statement that if a youth is being targeted on social media, their parents should take away the phone.

Of all the potential responses suggested to promote a more positive approach to bullying, I found the phenomenon of the bystander effect to hold particular relevance. Fundamentally, when we see someone being mistreated, we stop being bystanders and start being active resistors to bullying and violence. We teach our kids to do the same and we encourage our colleagues to stand up as well. When we hold positions of power, we take people’s concerns seriously and give them the attention they deserve. We help people to have a voice when they are struggling to find their own. And we do this the other 364 days of the year where we don’t wear a pink shirt (or 365 on a leap year).

My Buddy

Pink shirt day

Dignity and Ethics

Current statistics from point in time counts across the country show that as many as 35,000 people are staying in emergency shelters on any given night in Canada. Single men are most commonly represented in homelessness shelters while women are represented in shelters for domestic abuse. Domestic abuse remains as the main path to homelessness for women and children. Children, aged 0-14 represented for almost 14% of those in shelter and youth represented 20%. Across the board, Indigenous people are over-represented in shelter use and amongst those experiencing homelessness. These figures do not represent the number of people who are staying in dangerous situations, couch surfing and who remain hidden from the data counts.

Homeless doesn’t happen in isolation and this information isn’t new or profound. There are positive links between homelessness, mental health, substance use, trauma and the experience of violence. Women who experience violence are up to 40% more likely to receive a diagnosis of mental illness after the violence has occurred. Most people who stay in shelters have income levels that fall below the indicators of poverty. People who enter shelters are more likely to re-enter shelter in the future. People who experience homelessness are more likely to experience chronic health problems that lead to death. We call these deaths suicide, overdose and poor lifestyle choices rather than death by poverty, homelessness and discrimination.

As practitioners, peers and advocates working within the intersections of vulnerability (homelessness, poverty, trauma, violence, mental health and substance use) we have to reflect on the concept of dignity and constantly examine the ethics of our practices and decisions in order to ensure that we acting in ways that promote social justice and do not replicate structures that oppress and harm the very people that we say we support.

Doing dignity means that we acknowledge and use our power and privilege in an ethical way. We recognize resistance to violence and oppression, we respond to people at the intersections of vulnerability where they meet us. We build on people’s resilience and we stop reinforcing the language of shame and blame that serves to pathologize people rather than the system that is damaged.

These are the foundations of dignity and ethics in practice.

Creating a Culture of Practice

Over the years that I have worked in the field of social services I have come to understand that promoting the development of people in a positive way has to be priority for all of us to thrive in this work. Over the course of the days, weeks and years that we experience a constant battery of heartbreaking stories, there are protective factors that keep us here, where the rubber meets the road.

In my earlier years as an intensive, in home therapist I began to ask the question “What makes people stay?” I have yet to find the answer, but I have some thoughts. I have worked in organizations that seek to sustain workers in their roles, and I have worked in others that fail dismally to do so. In the speak of motivational interviewing, they are not even pre-contemplative. That is a separate blog.

Organizational culture encompasses the values and behaviours that influence the way that workers show up, interact, share knowledge, embrace change and ultimately drives the delivery of service to the people that they work with. There are visible and invisible elements to culture. Positive work cultures lead to outcomes that include increased job satisfaction, decreased turnover, less unplanned time off and generally healthier work environments. Clients experience an increase in positive outcomes and improved service delivery.

Organizational cultures that foster practice rather than performance become the North Stars of our field.

Historical concepts of leadership have not always promoted cultures of practice. Authoritarian, hierarchical and punitive methods of leadership that follow the “you do as I say” mentality must become a thing of the past as the new leaders emerge. I propose we take back the term boss and do it well.

In the practice of leadership this entails being able to loosen our grip and give people the autonomy that they need in order to do the work that we hired them to do. Leaders are not always experts, and this can be a hard pill to swallow. This means that we must check our ego and status at the door, understand power and privilege, respond rather than react and learn how to call people in rather than calling them out. We must recognize contributions and accomplishments in a very intentional way. We must take charge in creating a culture of practice.