Sask. parents say change needed to support adults living with mental illness and addiction

A teeter-totter. A game of pinball. Catch and release fishing.

The analogies used by three Saskatchewan parents allof whom have adult children with complex mental illness and addiction aredifferent, but they all describe turbulent journeys through the health care and judicial systems that are supposed to offer help and protection.

The parents say systemic failures preceded incarceration and death tragedies they say could have been prevented, had the systems helped their children.

Now the parents are working together to call forchange.

"When I come to [politicians] as a concerned citizen of our country, of this province, I'm not given the time of day,and so parents are banding together," saidPam Sanderson, who lives in Regina.

Sandersonand another Saskatchewan mom, Angela Erickson, havestarted a support groupcalled Time to Heal: Families United Through Mental Health and Addictions.

"What we're doing is hoping to create an organization for those that are suffering with mental health and addictions, and also for the families," Sanderson said.

She saidtrying to help a loved one navigate the system can be exhausting and traumatizingfor families.

"[My son]has been my full-time job for 10years, more than full-time. I work morning, noon and night for him," she said.

Her son Keith has struggled with severe mental illness and addictions for years, buthasn't received the help he needs to becomestable.She said he teetersbetween incarceration andmedical facilities, most often in B.C.

"I had to send my son back to British Columbia because there are absolutely no services here. I had him in the hospital for three months here,and then once he was released, he was back on the street and he was like, he was a real danger for him[self]," she said.

"He's back in jail, and [that's] not a place for him to be at all because once he's there, his mental health really declines."

Catch and release

Erickson, the co-creator of the group, similarly said her sonhas never received the long-term treatment needed to stabilize his severe mental illness in his adult life.

Last month, Erickson's 29-year-old son Colton was arrested andcharged with burning down several buildings andhis family home near Alida, Sask. His family believes the tragedy could have been prevented andare calling for change.

Less than 48 hours before the fires, Colton's family called the police to apprehend him because he was threatening his family in an apparent psychotic breakdown. The police took Colton into custody under the Mental Health Services Act and transferred him to the local hospital, but the hospital released Colton back into the community just hours later.

The Ericksons saythiswas the latest example of a health-care worker letting Colton walk away when his family believed he should be held for assessment and treatment.Angelasays Colton's experiences with the judicial and health-care systems in Western Canada can only be described as"catch and release."

• Catch and release: Parents say their adult son was released from hospital less than 48 hours before arson rampage

Carey Rigby-Wilcox says her adult son Steven Rigby's experience was like a game of pinball, where he waschaoticallybounced around from service to service.

She said her son went to the hospital after one of hismost severe suicide attempts and was released within 45 minutes, with no follow up plans.

Her voice becomes raw when shequestions "why, why, why."

Rigby-Wilcox said her son was not able to access timely or appropriate care before he diedin 2018 at the age of 27. He was killed inan altercation with Saskatoon police officers, in what's beendescribed as "suicide-by-cop." Rigby had been committed to a mental health facility in Saskatoon two days before the shooting, but then was quickly discharged.

She said that since her son's death, she's been busy answeringmessages and calls from other parents who can't figure out how to get their children help.

Rigby-Wilcox said this outreach coming toher not a professional, but a mother still grieving the death of her child demonstrates the system is failing.

"I feel I don't know really how to help because I feel like there's no direction to send them, because nothing has changed in three years since my son has died," she said.

She said her son'smental illness was often dismissed or overlooked because of his addiction.

Angela Erickson said her son had similar encounters, including last month. She said she was terrified when she learned thelocal doctor had released her son from thehospitaljust after his apparent psychotic episode in which he threatened her life.

She said she told the hospital hehad a history of episodes and his mental state had been severelydeteriorating, but they'd been unable to access a timely appointment with a psychiatrist.She wanted him held for psychiatricassessment,but she said the doctorbrushed off his behaviour asbeing possibly related to crystal meth.

Families of adult children left in dark

Rigby-Wilcox said she speaks out about her son's story to try to create change and save another family from enduring the pain of losing a child.

But she said it was impossible to speak out for her son while he was still alive.

"As parents, we were just left in the dark. They go in with him, they close the door, they don't tell us what's going on," she said.

Rigby-Wilcox said that even though her son wanted his parents involved in his care, they were denied access because he was an adult. She said it was heartbreaking to be shut out.

"As a parent I don't care if he's 27 years old,he's still my baby."

Rigby-Wilcox said that when she tried to tell health-care workers about the severity of her son's condition, they didn't believe her.

She remembers one of his final breakdowns.

"Our first instinct, to get help for our son, was to video-tape him in this crisis. he could have killed himself right there and I'm worried about getting a video so I can take it back to [the hospital] and say here is your evidence, he does need help, don't let him out," she said. "They just wanted proof, proof, proof. And it wasn't good enough. There wasn't enough. I don't know why they wouldn't validate us as parents."

Angela Erickson experienced similar frustrations. She said she wasunable to access her son's records after he became an adult and then was not taken seriouslywhen describing the severity of his symptoms to health or judicialworkers.She, too, felt the need to record her son's violent episode in March.

Colton's family wants the system to betterbalance an adult's rights with their family's insight into their mental illness.

• Saskatoon family says health-care system failed their son in months leading to fatal February stabbing

"I understand judges and doctors they don't want mental health to be used as a weapon. I get that, but you have to look at each individual situation, and if you sat down with anybody from the family, you would know that it was coming from a place of love," saidAngela's sister Amanda Townsend, who also tried to help Colton get help.

Townsend felt the helplessnessfirsthand whencourts and hospitals repeatedly released her mentally ill nephew without a treatment plan.

"Listen to the blinkin'family," she urged.

Calls for more resources

The families say there needs to be more resources in Saskatchewanto help adultsliving with complicated mental illness. Furthermore, they say mental illness should not be ignored just because someone has an addiction.

There are staffing shortages throughoutthe system, preventing timely access to inpatient and outpatient mental illness care.A spokesperson for the Saskatchewan Health Authority has told CBC that recruitment efforts are underway to address staffing shortages.

• Sask. people unable to access timely mental health treatment due to lack of psychiatric staff

On the addictions front, Sanderson said 28-day treatment programs should be expanded to 90 days minimum. Shesaidthere's also not enough outreach care to keep people stable once they are released from facilities or treatment centres.

WATCH|Sask. families say province's mental health-care system failed them:

Sask. families say provinces mental health-care system failed them

3 years ago

Duration 0:01

WARNING: This video contains distressing details | As Saskatchewan grapples with serious staffing shortages across its mental health facilities, at least two families are pleading for more resources to keep their sons and others safe.

Sanderson said the government should direct money toward treatment and housing programs specifically for people with complex mental illness needs, and support staff to work there. She believesthis could curb the crisis of adults being bounced around betweenvarious systems and services.

• Mother pleads for help for addicted son at Sask. legislature

"[My son] is extremely institutionalized, and I would really like to see him have some quality of life because for the last 10 years, he has had no quality of life."

Sanderson encouraged other parentswho feel alone in their struggle of trying to help their own adult childrento reach out to their new group online. She is also organizing a rally to raise awareness for later this year.