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1/12/2019 Sponsored: Treating depression goes further than fighting stigma | National Post
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This article is sponsored by a member of Innovative Medicines Canadaii
Ron Campbell smiles a lot more than he used to. Although the
retired RCMP officer from Edmonton still has some down days, many
more of them are good, which wasn’t always the case. Not long ago
Treating depression goes further thanfighting stigmaRecent data shows that one in five Canadians will experience amental health problem
F O L L O W M E O N T W I T T E R HEIDI WESTFIELD,
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when he woke up in the morning, he’d feel that there was nothing to
look forward to.
For part of his career, Campbell worked as a hostage negotiator and
a homicide investigator. He raced into crisis after crisis and
witnessed many horrific scenes over the years. But it was the
shooting death of a friend and colleague that proved to be a tipping
point, triggering feelings of despair, guilt and thoughts of suicide.
After nearly taking his own life, Campbell reached out for help.
“I’ve been in some crazy situations, but I’ve never been so scared as
the time I walked into the psychologist’s office,” Campbell recalls. “It
was the most difficult step I’ve ever made in my life.”
Doctors first diagnosed the retired officer with post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). A few years later, he was also found to have a
major depressive disorder. Fortunately, Campbell had access to the
RCMP’s employee health benefits plan, which paid for counselling
and offered access to a range of treatments, including the latest
innovative medicines.
Recent data shows that one in five Canadians will experience a
mental health problem. Depression is the most common mental
disorder and, according to the World Health Organization, is the
leading cause of workplace disability. It’s a complex condition that
affects people in different ways.
“Ten different people can walk into my office and have very different
expressions of depression,” says Dr. Patrick Smith, CEO of the
Canadian Mental Health Association. He says most older
medications focus on mood because that’s how depression was first
understood, but we now know that there are 227 combinations of
symptoms. “It’s not just about mood,” Dr. Smith says.
Depression can affect many things,including sleep and appetite.” Newer
medications focus on othersymptoms along with mood and can
come with fewer side effects- Dr. Patrick Smith, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association
Dr. Smith is currently working to raise awareness about what he sees
as a dramatic inequity for Canadians living with depression. Patients
with private health coverage have access to a wide range of
prescription medicines, including the latest innovative therapies, but
those who don’t have coverage through their employers or who can’t
afford private drug coverage have far fewer options. Public drug
programs, Dr. Smith points out, won’t reimburse patients for a long
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list of depression medications that have been deemed safe and
effective for use.
“When it comes to depression specifically, there is a huge gap in the
types of medications you have access to, whether you have [private
employer] coverage or not,” he says. “I think most Canadians don’t
understand that. People who are unemployed or already
marginalized have the added challenge of not having access to the
full range of medications that may be effective for them.”
Growing up in Ottawa, Brianne Moore experienced high levels of
anxiety as a young girl and felt overwhelmed by feelings of sadness.
As her condition worsened she became increasingly withdrawn.
Moore engaged in self-harm in her early teens and tried to take her
own life several times. Her erratic behaviour caused tensions in the
family, and she spent time living in a youth shelter.
A diagnosis by doctors at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
helped turn her life around. Moore learned she was living with
borderline personality disorder, persistent depressive disorder, an
eating disorder and generalized anxiety. She was prescribed
medication to stabilize her symptoms, along with counselling. While
she had more tools to manage her mental health, it wasn’t easy. At
one point, when she was 17, Moore had to pay for her prescription
medication out-of-pocket, making her an example of the 1.8% of
Canadians who have no drug coverage or the 10% who don’t know
they have coverage, according to a recent Conference Board of
Canada analysis.
“There was a period when I was living on my own and paying for my
own medication,” Moore says. “I would think, ‘Am I going to pay for
my medications or am I going to pay to get myself dinner? What
does my bank account look like?’”
While she now has drug coverage through Ontario’s extended drug
benefit plan, Moore continues to empathize with Canadians who are
falling through the drug coverage cracks. Indeed, according to
various surveys, mental health medications are among the top
medications that patients do not adhere to generally, for any reason,
so cost barriers due to lack of or inadequate drug coverage would
only exacerbate this.
Moore is fortunate that her particular depression medication is
covered by her provincial drug plan. However, there continues to be
patients that respond best to certain types of depression medications
that aren’t covered by public drug plans. According to IQVIA claims
data, in 2016 there were 55% more anti-depressants and mood
stabilizer drugs (DINs) reimbursed in private plans in Ontario
compared to public plans.
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She says she’d like to see all Canadians who live with mental health
disorders have the same access to medications, and the same
opportunities to get better.
Similarly, thanks to his ability to access both therapy and innovative
treatments for his PTSD and depression, Campbell says he finally
feels happier and more in control. “For some of us, therapy isn’t
enough,” he says. “It doesn’t fix the neurochemistry in our brains.
The right medications can do that for us.” Doctors needed to tweak
his medications several times to find the combination that worked
best for him, and he is grateful. “I am absolutely convinced that
without counselling and medication, I wouldn’t be here.”
This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial
content division and Patient Diaries, on behalf of Innovative
Medicines Canada (IMC) and an IMC member company
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