The Need

for a community like cottage farm

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) reports that psychiatric disorders are growing faster than heart disease, as a percentage of the global burden of disease.

The W.H.O. ranks active psychosis as the third most disabling condition in the world.

27% of the homeless in Vancouver have a mental disorder.

31% of all police encounters involve someone with a mental illness.

1 in 3 people with mental disorders are drawn into addiction.

The suicide rate for those with a mental disorder is 25 times greater than that of the general population.



Mental illness affects all of us, directly or indirectly

  • 1 in 8 Canadians will be hospitalized with a mental disorder
  • 3% of Canadians have a psychotic illness
  • 1 % of Canadians have schizophrenia

Mental illness can be very disabling, interfering with a person’s ability to study or work, to form meaningful relationships, and even to care for themselves.  When a disorder begins in adolescence, as it often does, these developmental tasks can remain uncompleted.

Mental illness can be very costly. The economic burden of mental illness to the Canadian economy, which includes the cost of lost productivity from disability and premature death, was $34 billion in 2003, tripling over the previous 5-year period.

Independent living on disability benefits alone, results in a level of poverty that would challenge anyone’s ability to cope.  This can lead to poor nutrition, limited social activities, living conditions that are depressing, unhealthy, and unsafe or homelessness.

People with mental illness, like everyone, need to be treated with dignity and respect, and they need to feel a sense of belonging.  Discrimination, based on public ignorance, is commonly experienced by them and compounds their symptoms, particularly their feelings of isolation, loneliness, sadness and unworthiness.

People with mental illness need to be treated with the same compassion that would be given to anyone who is ill.  They are often feared, yet ironically, they are the ones most at risk of being victimized.

They need an environment where they are safe from violence and exploitation, particularly from people in the drug trade.

The current mental health care system is unable to provide the continuum of care needed for optimal recovery.  This is the conclusion of a landmark national report by former senator Michael Kirby entitled, Out of the Shadows at Last.  The Kirby Report recommends a large increase in government funding to create a more comprehensive and seamless system of community-based services that are recovery-focused and patient-centered. Staff caseloads are high and the waiting period for services and supports, like rehab programs and housing options can be months or years.

These gaps in the current system of care place a huge burden on families, hospitals, homeless shelters and the police.  Hospital costs for mental disorders are 1.5 times higher than hospital costs for cancer.  A quarter of all patients discharged from a psych ward in BC will be readmitted within 90 days.

The suffering from mental illness can become unbearable.  The Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of BC estimates that between 70 to 90% of people who made a lethal attempt and died of suicide were suffering from an unmanaged mental health condition.