Growing up, Tristen Garnhum wanted to be a mechanic or a chef. Now the 19-year-old just wants to stay alive.
Diagnosed with Asperger’s, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, Garnhum is coping with a mental health crisis and a psychiatrist shortage is making things worse, says his mother, Melody.
He has been in and out of the emergency room since Sept. 25, but he has not been admitted.
On Oct. 3, he tried to hang himself in the ER bathroom.
He has gone entire days at the ER without seeing a psychiatrist and has attempted suicide before, Melody said.
“If they were to release my son today, I guarantee you within weeks I’d be burying him.
"Until now, he’s been fighting getting help. This time he’s asking for it. So I know the situation has drastically changed.”
The province has 4.7 full-time equivalent psychiatrists able to work in the emergency room at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and since Sept. 29 there have been shifts with no psychiatrist on call.
The government should have warned the public about the lack of psychiatric coverage, said mental health advocate Sarah Stewart-Clark.
“The fact that the health minister didn't make us aware of that and communicate their plan to get patients through this safely, that was very upsetting to learn.
“When we're not even able to cover call at the hospital, that's very troubling. We need to have coverage for the proportion of our population at a crisis point.”
The psychiatrists and physicians who are available aren’t doing enough to help Tristen, said Garnhum.
“I blame psychiatrists who don’t listen to the families, who don’t really listen to the patients and just shove medication.”
The situation is complicated by previous criminal charges that prevent Tristen from living with minors, which means he can’t live at home.
“(ER doctors) feel it’s a housing situation, not a mental health situation. Yes, the housing situation has aggravated his mental health issues. That I will not deny. But he’s there because of his mental health issues,” Garnhum said.
She has been told, however, Tristen will not be sent home without getting help.
Attempts to contact Health Minister Robert Henderson for help have gone nowhere, Garnhum said. She blames the provincial government for not providing enough funding to provide adequate psychiatric coverage.
“Robert Henderson should never have been handed that portfolio. He does not know how to manage it. He does not care enough. That portfolio deserves a politician who cares about people.”
Garnhum plans to continue fighting for change in the system, for her son and the many others who need help.
“My son is not a statistic. I’m not going to let my son become a statistic. He deserves to have a future.”
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