Pubdate: Sat, 16 Jul 2005
Source: Medicine Hat News (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005 Alberta Newspaper Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.medicinehatnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1833
Author: Diane Burczyk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

TREATMENT CENTRE WOULD BE WELCOMED

The recent discussions of talk about a treatment centre for 
addictions in Medicine Hat has probably raised the hopes of many 
people I know. People who, for whatever reason, suffer the dual 
effects of mental illness and addiction and feel they need a 
treatment centre in Medicine Hat to finally beat their addiction. 
They feel if they have their support groups around them when they get 
out of a treatment centre, or they don't have to travel so far, they 
will have a fighting chance. Their support groups can be their 
families or the people they meet in the treatment centre. We get 
support from all over.

The link between addiction and mental illness is a strong one. Some 
of us consumers or stakeholders feel that we self-medicated when we 
were young with drugs and alcohol before we were diagnosed in our 30s 
and 40s. We feel once we were told of our particular mental illness, 
particularly a mood disorder such as depression or manic depression, 
we had been this way since our teen years and had used addictive 
substances to calm ourselves. With early treatment of mental illness 
hopefully this will not be the case for our children's generation.

A treatment centre for addiction is a must in this city. Whatever the 
addiction it is ruining a person's life and the lives of their 
families, going away to another centre is always more costly and a hardship.

Diane Burczyk

Redcliff
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MAP posted-by: Beth