A major investment has been announced to help improve the lives of people with mental health issues and the care they receive.
The Quebec government plans to invest nearly $ 1.2 billion over the next five years to treat mental health and improve access to emergency care.
Gabriel Julien is delighted with the government’s investment.
He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2011 and had a high dependence on drugs and alcohol. But he has since turned his life around. Two years ago, he founded a non-profit organization that operates out of a hair salon on Saint-Laurent Boulevard where haircut is free for people suffering from mental health issues.
“For me, helping others is a way to help myself. “It keeps me busy and it gives me a way to live,” Julien told Global News.
Read more:
Douglas Foundation launches new mental health awareness initiative
Some of the state funds will be used to help community organizations and outreach programs.
There will also be money for schools to work with students struggling with mental health issues and to identify students at risk.
“There are still areas where you have to wait months and months when you are in a psychiatric crisis and that is really something that needs to stop,” said Dr. Olivier Farmer, a psychiatrist from Nôtre-Dame Hospital, told Global News.
Psychiatrists say the government’s funding could not come soon enough, arguing that the government should develop a coherent plan when dealing with the pandemic.
“Changing it from week to week and hearing the double messages all the time is just not healthy for the population,” Karen Hetherington, president of the Canadian Mental Health Association Quebec Division, told Global News.
Funding will begin this year and last until 2026.
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Reference-globalnews.ca