Voice - Hope on the horizon

"I JUST CONSIDER MYSELF VERY LUCKY."  Jackie, a 60-year-old mother of two, is describing her experience at a new community mental health clinic opened by the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group.

- Simon Gardner

About 40 years ago, Jackie started hearing, seeing, feeling, and even smelling things that didn't exist. The delusions, combined with her depression and mood swings, were diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder. With medication and support, she now leads a normal life, but in January her previous symptoms were in danger of flaring up.

"I was very close to being admitted," she recalls, describing how moving house was causing her stress. That prevented her from sleeping a common problem for people diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. "The symptoms become more amplified."

In the past, Jackie would have no choice but to go to an emergency room, and, from there, possibly be referred to the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. She bypassed that route this time, thanks to the Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic, located on the ground floor of the City Centre complex just west of the downtown core.

"I just phoned," says Jackie. "I was talking to my nurse and explaining that I had had no sleep, that I could not sleep." She was seen the next day. "It was dealt with very quickly and very efficiently," she says. "Within about a week my sleeping patterns got back to normal again."