Concern and treatment for mental health in Canada dates back to the first First Nation settlements and new European settlers. The two vastly different cultures both understood in different ways that any mental disturbances had to do with a disconnect of the physical body and spirit, and treated that disconnect accordingly. The treatments were highly based on cultural and spiritual perspective. Since those early days, Mental Health care has seen many changes through the asylum, deinstitutionalization, pharmacare and psychotherapy eras. It continues to evolve and change and SHOULD continue to evolve and change in order to ensure the best care possible to those who live with the challenges of mental illness. Defining ‘Mental Illness’ …show more content…
Yet another is that even by the definitions offered it is obvious that there is ‘Mental Health’ and there is and there is ‘Mental Illness,’ however, there is no clear definition of ‘Good Mental Health,’ being the opposite end of the spectrum. The Canadian Mental Health Association has said the following on their Toronto-based website: ‘Definitions of mental health are changing. It used to be that a person was considered to have good mental health simply if they showed no signs or symptoms of a mental illness. But in recent years, there has been a shift towards a more holistic approach to mental health. (CMHA Toronto Website,2015.) This is a very vague statement, not a current definition of good mental …show more content…
The first two steps are part of a process known as ‘Primary Care.’ Primary care is either self-initiated or by referral. Step one, in self-referral, can be done in a couple of different ways- Doing an online screening test, printing it off and bringing it in to a family doctor is one way, and another, sometimes by referral, is actually a compound step of one and two- an individual may go in to their family doctor and do the screening test and the assessment all at once. The screening tests are usually multiple-question questionnaires listing a variety of symptoms associated with a particular disorder, and beside them are little boxes or bubbles to tick based on the severity of the symptom over the last few weeks to 6 months. One of the more prevalent issues with these screening assessments is that they do not have built-in lie detectors and lying on mental health screening tests is easy and surprisingly common. So, why do people lie on these questionnaires? For one, there is a lot of stigma