A presentation on mental health and a peer-to-peer support group will take place at the North Battleford Library, Feb. 27. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff) : Angela Brown

By Angela Brown

Mental health support

New peer-to-peer support group focus of mental health event

Feb 23, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Local residents will be able to learn more about what is available in the community to help people with mental health issues at an upcoming presentation at the North Battleford Library.

The event, which will also feature information about a Peer-to-Peer Support group that launched just over a year ago, will take place in the lecture theatre, Feb. 27 starting at 7 p.m..

Alana Beauregard, one of the event organizers, said she hopes to increase awareness about the group to encourage more people to attend its regular meetings.

“The aim of the event is to spread the message of mental health,” she said.

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The workshop at the library will also include an opportunity for discussion. The guest speaker for the event will be Garth Harrison, a local mental health therapist. Musical entertainment as well as a video on mental health is also planned.

Beauregard said several suicides, including youth suicides, that occurred in the Battlefords a year ago point to the high need for peer-to-peer mental health support in the community. Both she and Ean Kasper received training on peer-to-peer support before they started the new group which means once a week on Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. at the Canadian Mental Health Association Battlefords branch.

Beauregard said, “There are so many people who need the support.”

There is no need to register to attend the meetings.

“It’s for whoever has a mental health illness,” Beauregard said.

Currently the group has about 25 members in total; about eight to 10 people on average attend the meetings on any given week.

“The benefit is they get support from someone else who is also suffering from mental health illness and can relate to what they are going through,” Beauregard said.

Some of the issues that come up include depression, anxiety, as well as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder, as a few examples.

Beauregard said more peer-to-peer support groups are developing throughout the province to help people dealing with mental health challenges. She said if the Battlefords group continues to grow there will be an opportunity to have more meetings each week, so more people can benefit from the support.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow