Eating Disorders and Addiction - EHN

I told you I would write about this if anything was new (which I attended yesterday). They provided some stats so that is always nice to share. Some were outdated so I shall skip those. We all know by this time that there is a big difference from statistics before the pandemic to now. The speaker was Cheryl Fiske and they will be providing slides and video probably next week. Since I am providing you with some notes I won’t be listing the video and slides. However, if it is of interest to you contact me and I shall send it out to you. She indicated that the demand for mental health care increased 47% between 2021 - 2022. For children the increase was much greater. Eating disorders are estimated at one million. Substance abuse - 6 million Canadians in a lifetime. It is estimated that 10% of Ontario has a substance abuse problem. The mortality rate of any mental illness is estimated between 10-15%. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for those suffering from anorexia. Mortality rates in substance abuse - 67,000 deaths in Canada. 15,000 deaths related to alcohol (14,700 prior to COVID). Some challenges with concurrent treatment - the disorder itself; additional psychiatric factors (depression, anxiety, trauma) - chronicity and relapse rates - denial. Let me know if you want me to send you anything. The speaker does talk a bit too fast and there is a large part of the video which provides you with what they offer at their treatment facility. I normally recommend CAMH because they have an excellent facility and it is free. I don’t recommend any private institution because I think that would be a conflict of interest. I normally ask clients to do their research because I simply am not aware of everything available. What may serve one person well, won’t for another. I have found that when someone wants to make a change, they work really hard to do that. Don’t try to do it alone. There are many support groups out there to help you. Take care and have a good weekend. I have to miss my writers corner this week but for sure won’t next week. I am once again swamped with paperwork.