A grandmother in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, says families in many small communities who care for loved ones with mental health issues have nowhere to turn for help — and they have to make impossible choices to get their family member the care they need.
When Looee Mike’s grandson was at his sickest, she called RCMP.
It was the only option she had in the hamlet, where one mental health nurse serves the entire community of 1,500 people.
“We have to treat them like they’re criminals or worse, because that’s the only way to get them proper help down south,” she said.
It’s a choice families in similar circumstances have to make regularly, she told CBC.
“They get handcuffed, taken to jail and finally [to] the mental health nurse or health centre so they can be assessed … and then finally, wait for a medevac — if it’s available.”
In the meantime, she said, people like her grandson sometimes have to go through arrests or incarceration until they can be helped. Like her grandson, they don’t always know what’s happening to them and why.
‘That’s not where they need to be’
Not many communities in Nunavut have dedicated mental health facilities.
But most, if not all, have an RCMP detachment.
Sgt. Pauline Melanson, the community policing media relations co-ordinator for the Nunavut RCMP, said the lack of appropriate facilities is a driving factor behind people winding up in cells when they’re having a mental health crisis.
“That’s not where they need to be, but there are no facilities outside of the jail that they could safely stay in,” Melanson said.
“We end up using our facilities, and our jail cells, for the safety of the person, and then we work with the health centres or mental health worker to find a place to take this person.”
That also means it’s police, not mental health workers, who often get the call when someone is in crisis.
Melanson said Nunavut RCMP received 220 calls in May specifically for mental health issues.
When they get the call, they don’t always know it’s for a mental health-related situation, she added. Though officers don’t have an official partnership program with mental health workers in Nunavut, she said they often rely on those workers to help out when these situations arise.
“We get called when someone’s feeling unsafe about something … When we get there, we don’t have all the resources,” she explained.
“It’s unfortunate that there’s very few resources in some of these communities, that we end up being the ones that people rely on. But we are there for the safety of the public, so I mean, we go to these calls because it’s important.”
The number of mental health-related calls and checks being fielded by RCMP has been growing fairly steadily: in 2018, Nunavut police were involved in 2,093 such occurrences — a number that grew to 3,031 in 2021.
Often, the calls result in people getting help. Sometimes, they turn dangerous. And in some instances, they turn deadly.
In the last ten years, seven Inuit men between the ages of 20 and 39 have died after being shot by RCMP. The most recent was Trey Angootealuk, 22, in Rankin Inlet.
Melanson said the reliance on RCMP to handle mental health calls is partly why it’s important for officers to build relationships in their community, understand those communities and get the right training.
Recently, she took a Inuit-specific mental health first aid course that brought in the context of residential schools, contact between Inuit and Western culture, and the sled dog slaughter.
“We teach the police officers, this is our history and this is what is happening in Inuit society right now … to make sure that it’s always a part of their decision-making,” she said.
Mental health nurse vacancies
Mike said she wanted to share her story because it’s important to start a conversation about supports in Nunavut for people with mental illnesses and those who care for them — most often family members.
Her grandson’s mental health has now stabilized, thanks to treatment at southern mental hospitals, and he is once again living with her in Pangnirtung. But in the beginning, when his illness was most acute, she didn’t know where to turn.
“I was totally clueless how to deal with this … because there’s no place to go to get that kind of support in Nunavut,” she said.
“We, as family, have very little support we can offer the people we love, who are in this situation in our homes.”
There are 37 mental health nurse positions in Nunavut, but as of May 25, just 25 were filled.
It’s a number the Department of Health says fluctuates often.
These workers are the point of contact in communities for families and caregivers who need help, along with outreach workers, the department said in an email. Among other things, they can assess patients, work to manage their symptoms and educate community members about mental health.
The department said mental health resources have “significantly increased” in the past few years, as the territory added outreach workers and youth program facilitators to its workforce.
“The goal is to continue reducing mental health stigma and promote mental wellness,” the department stated.
It pointed to Akausisarvik, the mental health treatment centre in Iqaluit, and the Cambridge Bay Mental Health Facility as two places in the territory that provide mental health care.
It described out-of-territory services as being for people who need “highly specialized care” for chronic mental health concerns that can’t be managed within the territory.
Mike said what she needed as a caregiver was somewhere to go to sit down and make an individual plan for her grandson, and somewhere with resources to help her understand what was happening to him.
“We just need a place where we can get some kind of education for them, just like we got educated really good with COVID,” she said.
“But there’s nothing for my grandson, who is mentally ill, and he needs it most. And God knows how many more grandsons and granddaughters are out there.”
If you or someone you know in Nunavut is struggling, the following resources may help:
- Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line (available 24 hours a day): 979-3333 in Iqaluit, or 1-800-265-3333
- Healing by Talking counselling program: 1-888-648-0070
- Government of Nunavut Employee/Family Assistance Program: 1-800-663-1142
- Isaksimagit Inuusirmi Katujjiqatigiit (Embrace Life Council): 1-866-804-2782
- Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or text TALK to 686868
- Hope for Wellness Help Line: 1-855-242-3310
- Victim’s Services: 1-866-456-5216
- Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program: 1-866-509-1769 or 1-800-464-8106, available Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
More Stories
Fair share: the right office solution can take finding the right partner
Ontario faces crew shortages, aircraft issues in fight against wildfires | Globalnews.ca
Refugee attends open house at Downtown Eastside affordable housing facility – BC | Globalnews.ca