If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, skip to the bottom of this article for resources.
Lindsay Hainsworth is a community mental health worker with the Mental Health and Addictions Program run by Southern Health-Santé Sud.
In practice, however, her career is much more — she provides hope and help to people in their darkest moments, and those who love them.
What can I do to help someone in crisis?
While it can sometimes seem like a solitary experience to struggle with mental health, in most cases, the people surrounding the one struggling are also affected.
Often, the main source of concern is wondering how to help.
Hainsworth has some advice for people who find themselves grappling with this question.
“My first instinct is to make sure you take care of yourself first,” she says. “Caregiving is a heavy role, whether you're caregiving for someone with physical or mental health needs, so it's important to make sure that you're taking care of yourself.”
Hainsworth says it’s also important to “recognize what is your responsibility and what’s not.”
“[It’s important to] create those boundaries as best you can, though I can appreciate that that's very difficult when your loved one is struggling,” says Hainsworth.
Let them lead
Another tip Hainsworth has is to allow the loved one in distress to take the lead. She says asking them questions about their goals and priorities is a good approach.
“Sometimes we might have different ideas of what people need, so it's good to know ... their perspective,” she says.
“If they're so unwell that you're concerned about them, you can reach out to any ... crisis line to get some guidance on how to best support them in those moments.”
Hainsworth also encourages people who want to be a mental health boon to seek out training opportunities in the community.
What do I do if I’m struggling?
As for people who are going through mental health challenges, Hainsworth’s advice begins with imparting that the moment will pass.
“In this moment, this feeling is very strong and it might be hard to imagine this feeling not being there, but it will pass,” she says, adding that the priority when one is struggling is to ask oneself what could be done in the moment to keep safe until the clouds break.
“I would encourage you to reach out to somebody that you trust, and if you don't have someone that you trust, reach out to the crisis lines that are available to anybody, because the person on the other line is there because they care and they want to support,” she says.
Hainsworth adds that it’s important not to keep mental health challenges to oneself, because “there’s help out there,” and others have similar experiences.
“It doesn't discriminate. It affects everybody, and so, as humans, this is a shared suffering and a shared experience,” she says. “The hope is obviously that if this is a shared experience, then that means we can provide support because we've all been there or could be there.”
What is Roots of Hope?
For those who desire even more support navigating mental health hurdles, Hainsworth says a unique initiative is in development that strives to help.
It’s called Roots of Hope.
“Basically, Roots of Hope is a framework meant to help communities build suicide prevention initiatives locally that fit their community, so it's very individualized to a community,” she says.
The cross-Canada program, which was initially developed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada in 2015, began to be rolled out across the country in 2018.
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"Roots of Hope is based on what the community voices prioritize," says Hainsworth. "The framework is there just to help put that into action and develop some priorities based on areas proven to be effective for community suicide prevention.”
Some of the areas that Roots of Hope has addressed across the country are:
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Building awareness
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Reducing stigma and shame surrounding mental health or suicide
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Training for those Hainsworth calls “natural helpers” that struggling people tend to reach out to in the community before they are connected with mental health services
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Building up specialized supports for groups with higher rates of suicide, including bereavement support, for example
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Initiatives to reduce access to harmful substances through means like medication boxes to make the home a safer place
The program, which Hainsworth calls a “tool” that enables mental health programming, is in development in Manitoba.
“This is something that is being rolled out as we speak,” says Hainsworth. “We're looking at working with communities that maybe have identified some need and are ready to start taking some steps at creating a network to do some community assessments and action planning.”
Hainsworth says the program also looks for ways it can amplify work that is already being done. In her view, everyone has a role in suicide prevention as a community.
“As a community, as a society, as a province, we can all play a role in preventing suicide because there are so many factors that can influence people getting to that point,” she says. “I think that also gives us hope in that we can all contribute to making suicide preventable."
What options are there for struggling people?
For those struggling with an immediate mental health crisis, Hainsworth offers the following suggestions for care:
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The Mental Health and Addictions Program provides free walk-in counselling for people over the age of 16 throughout the region. In Winkler, the program is at Pathways (31 Main St) on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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There is also a variety of emergency lines available to someone in crisis or someone supporting a loved one in crisis:
24-Hour Crisis Line 1-888-617-7715
Manitoba Suicide Line 1-877-435-7170
Klinic Crisis Line 1-888-322-3019
Manitoba Farm, Rural & Northern Support Services 1-866-367-3276
Sexual Assault Crisis Line 1-888-292-7565
Problem Gambling Help Line 1-800-463-1554
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The Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868 or Kids Help Phone website) is also available for children to text or call. Hainsworth notes that those who use this resource do not need data or the internet to access it, but can text Connect to 68-6868 any time.
For people who are not in acute distress but would benefit from help addressing mental health challenges, Hainsworth suggests the following courses of action:
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Connect with a primary caregiver, whether that is a family doctor or nurse practitioner. For those who don’t have access, Hainsworth says a walk-in clinic is also an option.
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For those with health insurance plans like Blue Cross, Hainsworth suggests reaching out directly to the insurance company for care. She says they usually have a toll-free number and can recommend solutions.
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Counselling is also available for adults and adolescents without access to health insurance plans through the Community Mental Health program.
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Hainsworth says that for anyone waiting on mental health services, visiting the Strongest Families Institute website or the BounceBack Manitoba program will yield practical tips for navigating anxiety and/or depression.
With files from Robyn Wiebe