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j2l- l economist sunsuntribune saturday may 17 2003 mental health system needs reform new lobby group says by lisa queen staff writer lmost nonchalantly julie fawm rhymes off a long list of distressing events that led up to her first suicide attempt she was pressured into termi nating two pregnancies by an abu sive boyfriend had a rocky rela tionship with her family bladder surgery a car accident and worst of au zero selfesteem i guess you could say i was very conservative and naive very naive really naive said ms fawm who credits many techniques with making her a strong and inde pendent woman today i did whatever anybody said to do i didnt know i could say ho i didnt know i could be assertive after a crummy ghristmas in 1993 the richmond hill resident fell into a deep depression 1 kind of more or less crashed a couple of weeks after the holi days she downed a bottle of pills i had had enough the errio- tion was to the point where i could nt handle anything anymore but shortly after swallowing the medication she called 911 and ended up in the psychiatric ward of north york general hospital despite receiving psychiatric intervention at north york general and york central hospitals over the next three years ms fawm tried to kill herself another four times in 1995 two of her friends suc ceeded ms fawm feels her journey through the mental health system was generally positive which she attributes to her pliant nature she accepted any treatment offered by medical experts im easygoing i go along with whatever on the other hand she has heard horror stories from others who have navigated the psychiatric system they have been doped- up they wouldnt be able to see a doc tor they were restrained they were confined to a room and locked inside the room she said its because of those tales and because she knows the system does have strengths upon which to build ms fawm has become a board member and volunteer sec retary for the fledgling york consumer survivors cofounder linda tuplin described the group being launched june 17 at the aurora staff photobill roberts julie fawm of richmond hill is volunteer secretary of the new york consumer survivors a group of people who have been through the mental health system land are seeking reforms public library as a team of york region psychiatric consumers who want to improve the system being involved in the mental health system weve seen the problems we really want a voice in making some- changes said ms tuplin a holland landing resident who has bipolar disorder right now people with men tal illnesses dont have a voice theres a lot of people making deci sions for themj dont believe you should force someone to get the kind of help you feel- they should have if its not what they think they need ms tuplin was a member of a provincial task force investigating ways to improve the mental health system however she and other psychi atric consumers quit in disgust last year because they felt their voices werent being heard at queens park it got bogged down in govern ment bureaucracy with their own agenda she said we felt we were tokens just so they could say consumers were consulted but we werent being taken seriously many of us resigned en massewe felt we needed a local forum governments arent the only ones denying people with mental illnesses a voice ms tuplin said people think people with men tal health problems are riot smart arent educated cant make their own decisions theres a slogan if you have a brain you can have mental illness she added theres a widespread belief medication is the answer to all psychiatric problems a lot of people see medication as the be all and end all i dont want to say medication is wrong but there needs to be other options available as well she said ms fawm acknowledged med ication did help her turn her life around although she complained she gained 60 pounds on lithium but she stressed it took much more than pills a veteran of depressed anonymous ms fawm participat ed in numerous workshops through hospitals and the canadian mental health association depended on an asso ciation social worker listened to personal affirmation and relax ation tapes by oprah winfrey and dr phil learned mottoes to help her regain her footing if she feels herself becoming agitated or depressed and relied on a support ive boyfriend a iot of people see medication as the be all and end all i dont want to say medication is wrong but there needs to be other options available as welv although she survives on dis ability benefits ms fawm is volun teering as an information hotline operator at the krasman centre a richmond hill mental health agency and sits on an advisory committee for the simcoeyork district health council im a strong person a person who knows her boundaries a per son who can say no a person who has the right to do whatever is within my means she said adding she still copes with anxiety when trying new activities i didnt know who i was until i went through the system the workshops gave me life skills depressed anonymous it makes me proud to see how far ive come doing positive selfaffirmation was a lifeline i still do deep breathing and relaxation its been like a new beginning a new birth it was a long road it was a long struggle but it makes you feel good that youve succeeded in some thing for more information about york consumer survivors which meets out of the krasman centre call 9057800491 or p 8887800724 ext 17 lot levy hike may halt retail projects by simone joseph staff writer retail developers say they will cancel building projects in york region if development charges sky rocket i have the luxury of not building these developments and looking elsewhere said art welter vice- president of development for the trinity development group inc which built the colossus centre in vaughan the development company has a large project planned for richmond hill and a smaller one foraurora the region is proposing to hike development charges to pay for expected population growth and demand for infrastructure as well as help fund its transit plans which include introducing a system of light rail transit vehicles and buses it the increase is necessary to meet growing demands for transit finance commissioner sandra cartwright said at a committee meeting last week transit development charges used to be paid at the municipal level but since the regions transit systems have been cdmbinedr these charges are a regional respon sibility retail companies have said they were taken off guard by the regions plan to increase development charges by as much as 1073 per square foot we would have never anticipat ed this mr welter said steven zakem a lawyer for fortjnos and loblaws said the company had plans to build six stores in york region but if devel- opment charges are increased the projects may be cancelled a development charge increase should not come as a surprise york region chairperson bill fisch said considering the region has been discussing the change for about two years york already has the highest res idential development charges in the 905 region according to a staff report in a comparison of charges for retail development the region ranked second to halton it is not known how york region will com pare in future because york is intro ducing a new bylaw a year ahead of other regions the development charge bylaw is scheduled to be adopted by council thursday and is set to be enacted june 23 w catering t needs corporate r house restaurant 7 jfia m lilllvi iulikijji tnwny totqhi lllllc beginning friday may 2nd and running for the month of may valid tuesday thru sunday for dinner only 187 main si uniouvillc sorry no coupons valid remptuvf the majpfu with lobster menu of jjtlionville i or reservations please call vooj 4774866 vvvvvviinionvillclioiisecom