IMPORTANT NOTICE: The CTO 3rd Reading was slated in the P.E.I. Legislature, November 14, 2023 at 2:00p.m. There was a golden opportunity at 3rd Reading, for an amendment to accept the N.B. CTO model. I hoped and prayed that the PC Party would make the life saving amendment. Michelle Patterson from the P.E.I. Green Party came over and sat with me in the gallery. I braced myself with baited breath waiting for the 3rd Reading with tears in my eyes.
I decided that the PC politicians needed to see the face of a broken hearted mother who has fought tirelessly to have our son brought home on a medical transfer to be hospitalized.
I am representing many mothers who have a loved one with a mental illness and will NOT QUALIFY with the new proposed P.E.I. CTO.
I know the P.C. politicians are good people, and many of them have sons and daughters. I think they were thinking about what they would do, if they were in my position. No one would want to live the nightmare that we have experienced the past year. I think they could feel my pain!
We face the challenge that Andrew will NOT QUALIFY for the proposed P.E.I. CTO. Upon discharge, Andrew will be free to come off his medications and he could go back on the streets again and possibly not survive this winter.
To our surprise, the PC Government decided not to bring forward the 3Rd Reading today. Perhaps they are having a change of heart. I sure hope so.
Peter Bevan-Baker, P.E.I. Green Party came over and gave me a big bear hug. He said how sorry he is to see our family enduring such chaos.
I will attend the P.E.I. Legislature every day until I see the 3rd Reading embracing the N.B. CTO model!
MAMA BEAR WILL NEVER GIVE UP!
I was disappointed that the CBC Compass story did not compare the N.B. Community Treatment Order to the proposed P.E.I. CTO. If they had, the public would have become aware that the proposed P.E.I. CTO is very restrictive and many Islanders, including our son, Andrew will NOT QUALIFY.
I am also very disappointed with the front page Guardian story on the CTO November 14, 2023. The story again does not do a comparison with the N.B. CTO AND P.E.I CTO WHICH IS CONSIDERED THE MOST FLEXIBLE AND BEST IN CANADA!
I have always fought for the vulnerable. Many years ago I was the Founder of the Friends of the Food Bank. I brought tractor trailer loads of food to families who were struggling. I successfully lobbied for a Q.E.H. mammogram machine, linear accelerator and a safe park for children in downtown Charlottetown, the Joseph A. Ghiz Memorial Park. Now I hope you will understand why I am fighting for Islanders again!
I believe that Islanders trust my judgement and now I am telling you that the proposed P.E.I. CTO must NOT BE LEGISLATED. The P.E.I. Government has been advised by Dr. Richard O'Reilly renown psychiatrist and also Dr. John Gray that the proposed P.E.I. CTO is not the BEST IN CANADA. The N.B. CTO IS THE BEST IN CANADA!
Hundreds of people from P.E.I. and Ontario are sending e-mails, letters and making phone calls to encourage the P.E.I. Government to support the modern humane N.B. CTO model.
I hope that the CBC and The Guardian give Dr. Richard O'Reilly, psychiatrist, the opportunity to explain why the N.B. CTO should be legislated. I also hope they give the Green Party of P.E.I. the same opportunity, as they tried to make amendments to the CTO and were refused by the PC Party. The 2nd Reading has passed.
Let's encourage the PC Government to do the RIGHT THING and legislate the N.B. CTO model. It is the GOLD STANDARD. ISLANDERS DO NOT WANT THE SILVER STANDARD. ISLANDERS DESERVE THE BEST CTO AVAILABLE IN CANADA AND THAT IS THE N.B. CTO MODEL!
THE PROPOSED P.E.I. CTO IS SUBSTANDARD. IT IS MUCH TOO RESTRICTIVE. MANY ANDREWS WILL NOT QUALIFY! WE SHOULD LEGISLATE THE N.B. CTO WHICH IS MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE AND IS MUCH LESS RESTRICTIVE. IT WILL MEET THE NEEDS OF THE PATIENTS AND CLINICIANS WHO WILL NOT HAVE THEIR HANDS TIED BY THE CTO LEGISLATION!
I have been posting letters authored by Dr. Richard O'Reilly, renown psychiatrist, and Dr. John Gray. They have done extensive research on mental illness over their very long mental health careers.
In addition, I have posted blogs from Marvin Ross and newsletters written by Kathleen Walker Mochnacki. Kathleen sends the newsletter to many politicians and they are extensively read.
Today, I would like to feature a newsletter written by Kathleen Walker Mochnacki. It includes an article by Dr. Richard O'Reilly. They both reference our son, Andrew Bryenton's heartbreaking story.
I am encouraging people from Ontario and New Brunswick to send e-mails to the list below in support of a N.B. CTO model being legislated, instead of a proposed very restrictive substandard P.E.I. CTO. Our son, Andrew Bryenton will NOT QUALIFY for the proposed CTO. However, he would qualify for a N.B. CTO.
THE PROPOSED P.E.I. COMMUNITY TREATMENT ORDER LEGISLATION INSISTS THAT A PERSON HAS HAD EXTENSIVE PERIODS OF HOSPITALIZATION BEFORE BEING ELIGIBLE FOR THE BENEFITS OF A CTO WHICH HELPS KEEP THE MENTALLY ILL ON THEIR MEDICATIONS.
OTHER CANADIAN PROVINCES HAVE BEEN ABANDONING THAT REQUIRMENT. I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD LEGISLATE THE N.B. CTO MODEL KEEPING THAT IN MIND. ISLANDERS DESERVE A GOLD STANDARD CTO NOT A SILVER STANDARD ONE!
P.E.I. WAS THE LAST PROVINCE IN CANADA TO LEGISLATE A CTO. ISLANDERS DESERVE AND NEED A GOLD STANDARD CTO LIKE THE N.B. CTO MODEL. ISLANDERS DESERVE NOTHING LESS THAN GOLD STANDARD! A SILVER STANDARD CTO IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!
COMPARISONS P.E.I. CTO TO N.B. CTO:
1. Previous hospitalization.
PEI: at least 2 involuntary admissions AND a total of 30 days as involuntary inpatient.
NB: 1 admission of any duration OR none if there is a “pattern of behaviour” that is likely to cause serious harm or deterioration. Alberta has a similar provision to NB.
Andrew was granted a Ministerial Order by Minister of Health and Addictions, Mark McLane which facilitated a medical transfer home to P.E.I. Now, we are told that Andrew will NOT QUALIFY FOR A CTO. Does this make any sense to you?
Here are the contacts:
Premier Dennis King premier@gov.pe.ca 902-368-4400
Minister of Health and Addictions, Mark McLane mamclaneminister@gov.pe.ca 902-368-5250
Lisa Thibeau Deputy Minister of Health and Addictions lthibeau@gov.pe.ca 902-368-5290
Krista Shaw Assistant Deputy Minister Mental Health and Addictions kdshaw@ihis.org 902-368-5250
CBC Compass compass@cbc.ca 902-629-6403 CBC Radio Talkback 18006801898
The Guardian Opinion page letters@theguardian.pe.ca
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR MLA AND EXPRESS YOUR CONCERNS!
I am saddened to learn that the 2nd Reading has been completed. The 3rd Reading could happen this week. There is an opportunity for an amendment at 3rd Reading.
PLEASE ACT NOW! PLEASE FLOOD the above list with e-mails and phone calls TOMORROW! PLEASE CONTACT YOUR MLA. They must be alerted to the dangers of the proposed CTO. Andrew's fate, as well as many others depend on the outcome of this CTO legislation! THIS IS A RED ALERT TO EVERYONE!
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Welcome to the Newsletter on Serious Mental Illnesses.
All of us have watched the agonizing story of Andrew Bryenton, the PEI man who had an untreated mental illness and remained homeless on the streets of the GTA for 10 months. He refused treatment because he was not aware that he has an illness. This refusal to accept treatment is the expression of the symptom of anosognosia and not an expression of a "right". Fifty to 95 % of people who have schizophrenia have this symptom. According to the Homeless Hub, 30 to 40 % of homeless people have an untreated mental illness.
The first article in this Newsletter is by Dr. Richard O'Reilly which describes Marlene Bryenton's long struggle to get medical care for her son who has the symptom of anosognosia. At the same time, Marlene has successfully lobbied the government of PEI to develop legislation to support Community Treatment Orders (CTO). Andrew will need a CTO to maintain his wellness when he is finally discharged as he is unaware that he has an illness and may not take his medication. Marlene's struggle is not over as she finds the proposed CTO legislation will not meet the needs of her son as it is too restrictive. At the bottom of this Newsletter, there will be email addresses of PEI politicians who you may inform about the need to add an amendment in the 3rd reading of this legislation on November 20 to make it less restrictive.
For those politicians, funders, and service providers who genuinely want to find out more about anosognosia and how to help people with this symptom, the 2020 version of the book "I am not sick and I do not need help" by Dr. Xavier Amador is really helpful. More information can be found in this link https://tinyurl.com/ymuxvc9
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Loving mother wins the battle against an uncaring system
by Dr. Richard O'Reilly
My heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Marlene Bryenton who, against all the odds, forced the provinces of Ontario and Prince Edward Island do the right thing. Just five years ago Marlene’s son Andrew was working as an assistant bank manager and living in his own home with his wife and children. Then, due to the sudden onset of a psychotic illness, he lost everything, wandered off and ended up living on the streets in Toronto. Paranoid delusions prevented Andrew from accepting shelter and other support services so his mother mobilized an expanding group of volunteers to check on his wellbeing and provide him with food, clean water and clothes.
Marlene was less successful, initially, in mobilizing mental health services to provide the care her son needed. But this was not for want of trying. Three times she made the arrangements for her son to be assessed in the emergency rooms of Toronto hospitals.
Despite the fact that Andrew Bryenton was severely ill, sleeping on the streets and had walked against traffic on a highway off-ramp, he was discharged back to the streets without treatment or provisions for follow-up care. But Marlene refused to accept the callous absurdity of the system. She relentlessly lobbied doctors, hospitals and the governments in Ontario and PEI, eventually flying from PEI to Ontario to pressure Ontario’s mental health system to provide the care and treatment that her son needed. Only then was Andrew admitted to Humber River Hospital and the necessary treatment for his illness finally started. Last week, at Ms. Bryenton’s request, her son was flown back to a hospital in PEI, on a rarely used ministerial order.
While she was working to get appropriate treatment for her son, Marlene Bryenton also successfully lobbied the government of PEI to develop and introduce legislation to support community treatment orders. Treatment for psychosis sometimes alleviates hallucinations and delusions but the patient fails to develop an understanding that they have a serious illness and need to stay on medication to prevent relapse. This outcome is especially common when the initiation of treatment is delayed, as it was in Andrew’s case. The availability of a community treatment order means that Andrew, and others like him, who lack an awareness of their severe mental illness, can be legally required to continue treatment and follow-up after discharge from hospital. Without Marlene’s determination, persistence and innate political smarts her son would still be profoundly ill and languishing on the streets of Toronto.
While this is an uplifting story of a mother’s success in securing essential care and treatment for her son, is this really what it takes to get standard medical treatment for an individual suffering from a psychotic illness? There are thousands of Andrews out there. Many do not have families. When they do, those families are often exhausted due to the effort needed to look after someone with a severe mental illness: particularly the effort sometimes required to ensure that a loved one stays on treatment. Family caregivers repeatedly tell me that they feel shunned and defeated by the system.
It is in these situations that the state must exercise its parens patriae duty, i.e. the responsibility to look after vulnerable citizens who cannot look after themselves. But note how the institutions in Ontario abysmally failed to provide Andrew the care he needed until they were forced to do so by Ms. Bryenton.
Our society’s reluctance to provide individuals like Andrew Bryenton essential care is epitomized in comments by Roxie Danielson, identified as a street nurse, in a CP24 article. Respectfully I disagree with Roxie Danielson’s conclusion that Ms. Bryenton violated her son’s privacy rights by sharing photographs of him with the volunteers who checked on him and provided him with the essentials of life. Roxie Danielson speculated that these photos of Mr. Bryenton, destitute and disheveled on the streets of Toronto, could adversely affect his future employment opportunities. Again, with due respect, the possibility of future employment was surely the least of Ms. Bryenton’s concerns when he was walking against traffic on a motorway off-ramp or sleeping on the streets of Toronto in the middle of winter.
Here is what I take away from Andrew’s story. Families can make a difference …but to do so they must be both vocal and persistent. They must also be confident about what is right and what is not. Marlene Bryenton knew that her son needed treatment, knew that he deserved treatment, knew that he had a right to receive that treatment. She knew that her son’s lack of understanding about the nature of his condition and the need for treatment did not justify leaving him to languish on the streets to face an inevitable early death. Marlene Bryenton should not have had to work 10 hours every day for almost a year to get her son the treatment he needed.
Ontario should have provided that treatment, but it didn’t until forced to do so by Ms. Bryenton. The story of Andrew Bryenton demonstrates what I have always believed - that the mental health system will not meet its duty to provide appropriate care and treatment to people with severe mental illness until family caregivers come together and force it to do so.
Richard O’Reilly
Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry
Western University, London, Ontario
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