Food Assistance in Halifax Regional Municipality

Beacon House, Lower Sackville (Food and Clothing): (902) 864-3025

Brunswick Street United Church, 2107 Brunswick Street, Halifax (Breakfast, Monday through Friday, 7-8 am): (902) 423-4605 or (902) 423-2107

Feed Nova Scotia (Food and Assistance): (902) 457-1900

Feeding Others of Dartmouth, 43 Wentworth Street, Dartmouth (Lunch: Everyday, Noon to 12:30 pm; Supper: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm): (902) 464-2919

Hope Cottage, 2435 Brunswick Street, Halifax (Meals, Monday through Friday, 10 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 6 pm): (902) 429-7968

Saint Andrew’s United Church, 6036 Coburg Road, Halifax (Supper, Sundays, 4 pm to 6 pm): (902) 492-1454

Saint George’s Anglican Church, 2222 Brunswick Street, Halifax (Supper, Saturdays, 4 pm to 6 pm): (902) 423-1059

Saint Matthew’s United Church, 1479 Barrington Street, Halifax (Breakfast, Sundays, 9 am to 10 am): (902) 423-9209

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (Assistance): (902) 422-2049 or (902) 466-6183

St. Paul’s Food Bank, Spryfield (Food): (902) 479-1015

Note: An excellent listing of food banks and related agencies in Nova Scotia can be found here.

Open Groups, Mental Health Outpatient Department, Halifax

The Mental Health Outpatient Department in Halifax offers the following open groups. Referrals to these open groups are not required. For general inquires, call Imelda Montinola at (902) 473-3674.

Note: Sometimes a group might be cancelled due to unforeseen and/or unplanned circumstances. Every attempt will be made to notify people of any cancellations one week prior to the next group. However, if you are planning to attend a group for the first time, please contact the Mental Health Outpatient Department to confirm that the group is being offered. The phone number is (902) 473-2531.

For more information on a specific group, click on the applicable heading.

Self-Esteem

Wednesdays: 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Mental Health Outpatient Department Conference Room #3032, 3rd Floor
QEII Heath Sciences Centre
Abbie J. Lane Building
5909 Veterans’ Memorial Drive, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Stress Management Group

Wednesdays: 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Mental Health Day Treatment Group Room #3102, 3rd Floor
QEII Heath Sciences Centre
Abbie J. Lane Building
5909 Veterans’ Memorial Drive, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Wellness Group

Mondays: 9:30 am to 11:30 am
Duffus Street Medical Centre
The Village at Bayers Road
7071 Bayers Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Acupuncture and Meditation

Wednesdays: 6:45 pm to 7:45 pm
Mental Health Outpatient Department Group Room #3047, 3rd Floor
QEII Heath Sciences Centre
Abbie J. Lane Building
5909 Veterans’ Memorial Drive, Halifax, Nova Scotia

CFQ Healing

Note: Although a referral is not required for this group, you do need to register at the Mental Health Outpatient Department reception desk (3rd Floor, Abbie J. Lane Building) the first time you attend.

Wednesdays: 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Gymnasium, 4th Floor
QEII Heath Sciences Centre
Abbie J. Lane Building
5909 Veterans’ Memorial Drive, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Sixteenth Annual Research Day

The Dalhousie University Department of Psychiatry's Sixteenth Annual Research Day attracted many students, residents, and faculty from the department, as well as a few individuals living with psychiatric illness, local private-practice psychiatrists, and two senior managers from the Nova Scotia Department of Health.

Biology and Environment Interactions

The day’s plenary speaker, Dr. Michael Meaney of McGill University, gave a well-received and detailed presentation on how environmental cues can influence the expression of a specific gene – in this case, the glucocorticoid receptor gene.

In his fascinating talk, Dr. Meaney outlined many years of painstaking research that has shown how maternal tactile stimulation (licking/grooming) of rat pups during the first hours of their lives has a significant effect on the level of methylation of a promoter region in the glucocorticoid receptor gene that binds the transcription factor, NGFI-A.

Dr. Meany’s presentation reminded me of a line I once read in Dr. David J. Miklowitz’s book, The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: “As you read on [in the book], try to think of biology and environment as interacting with each other – you’ll have an easier time making choices about treatments if you can keep these multiple causes of bipolar disorder in mind.”

I'll post more about Dr. Meaney's research at a later date.

Think NeuroTranslation

Neurological disorders are not a mystery.

Every blog needs a slogan!

Bipolar Disorder and Employment

Eastern Views has posted an article on bipolar disorder and employment. The article, written by Dr. Stephen Ayer, can be accessed by clicking here.

Wait Times for Mental Health Services

Wait times for appointments with each of the five Community Mental Health Teams within the Capital District Mental Health Program are posted here.

These reports state that the Standards for Mental Health Services in Nova Scotia indicate:

• urgent/rapid follow up clients should be seen within 7 days (actually 5 working days);
• semi-urgent clients should be seen within 28 days (semi-urgent is not defined in the Standards, nor is the 28-day wait time); and
• regular clients should be seen within 90 days.

Wow, with three month wait times, I'm glad that I have always been an urgent client. I wonder how one qualifies to be a 'regular client'?

Because of the unfortunate stigma associated with mental illness, I would think that those of us with enough courage to access mental health services deserve to be treated as either an urgent or a semi-urgent client - at least for the first appointment.

David Rodenhiser, a columnist with the Halifax Daily News, has written a nice opinion piece entitled: A collision course. An ailing mental-health system results in more troubled people in conflict with the law. Among numerous important issues that he addresses, Mr. Rodenhiser questions the 18-day wait times (in August 2006) for those with urgent mental-health problems as reported by Mental Health Services, Bedford/Sackville.

Mental Health Services, Bedford/Sackville

You can access mental health services at this location as a self-referral by calling (902) 865-3663. You can also request a referral from your family physician or through a community organization. A family member or friend can also call on your behalf.

Services are available:

8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Monday and Wednesday through Friday

8:30 am to 8:00 pm on Tuesday

Location:

Cobequid Community Health Centre
Mental Health Services, Bedford-Sackville
40 Freer Lane
Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia B4C 0A2

For more information visit Mental Health Services, Bedford-Sackville.

Halifax Bipolar Support Group

The Nova Scotia Bipolar Peer Support Alliance holds a structured support group meeting for individuals living with bipolar disorder every Monday night from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Spencer House, 5596 Morris Street in Halifax (sorry, no family or friends). Contributions of $1 or $2 per meeting are expected to cover the cost of light refreshments and the room rental.

Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team

Phone: (902) 429-8167
Toll Free: 1-888-429-8167

This new service provides mental health crisis support to individuals of all ages. Telephone crisis support is available 20 hours per day - between 9:00 am and 5:00 am.

Mobile crisis response is available every day, between the hours of 1:00 pm and 1:00 am in Halifax, Dartmouth, and Bedford.

Click here and here for further information on the Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team.

Note: The Emergency Psychiatric Assessment Services (Nova Scotia Hospital 464-3114; QEII Health Sciences Centre 473-2043) can be also contacted for emergencies outside of the hours of 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday, as well as on weekends and holidays.

Summary Information on Mental Health Services

During the past few months it has become abundantly clear to me that there is a paucity of Internet-based summary information on mental health services, as well as other mental health programs and supports, for individuals living within the boundaries of Capital Health District. In fact, it requires a significant amount of effort just to find the telephone number and correct hours for the new Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team using the Internet.

This Blog is my attempt to possibly help rectify this dismal situation.

The Nova Scotia Division of the Canadian Mental Health Association provides a summary sheet of mental health services in the Capital Health District.

Mental Health Services Directory

The Mental Health Services Directory is co-produced for primary care physicians by the Capital District Mental Health Program, the IWK Mental Health Program, and the Dalhousie University Department of Psychiatry. This directory is useful if one wishes to gain a quick understanding of the mental health services available in the Capital District. A printed copy of this directory is also available by contacting Shauna Blundon, Department Coordinator, at (902) 464-6098 or shauna.blundon@cdha.nshealth.ca.

Note: Six corrections to the directory can be found here. Also, the phone number for the Metro Turning Point Shelter (page 3) should be (902) 420-3282; and the phone number for Byrony House (page 3) should be (902) 429-9008.