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June 30, 2016 T" _A"\v("(’l www.insidehaiton.com By Julla Le METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP Brynne Wrigley has been battling anxiety and depression on and off since she was a teenager. The 30â€"yearâ€"old Burlington resident describes how she was on an emotional rollercoaster at the time as she struggled with schoolwork, home life and moving to a new city. "Leaving all my friends behind was quite traumatic for me," she said. "Looking back, it wasn‘t as traumatic as some of the other MILTON CANADIAN CHAMPION { _ BBQ Iunch or dinner (client / staff appreciation, staff training moetlngl, birthday) Menus start at $9.75 PDP+* (based on 100 people) (groups smaller than 100 welcome, call for pricing) Including hamburger, hot dog, potato chips and a beverage m CC Services by Canadian Mental Health Association Call to confirm your date! 905 864 8511 www.redbbg.ca / info@redbbg.ca Mental health for all THANK YOU to our generous sponsors for our Ride Don‘t Hide community bike ride on June 26, 2016 & POS"’IVE Ootimarths 6 firme $ «> ‘ wescan "I" ACCOUKTING Mohawk B ee a e ()}5 the coâ€"opetators $:'f‘{o"' es id rexiveme * ) qotgrets * Imetrolandmedia ‘.aa o healin and ad *z“&"."‘ ts C m,s. n-:w;m n 6 L* | ts things I‘ve been through, but | was very young and didn‘t know how to absorb it all" Although she saw school counsellors, she still felt alone and wasn‘t sure how to deal with how she was feeling. "The dialogue wasn‘t really there. No one reâ€" ally talked about that type of thing back then," said Wrigley, who described how she someâ€" how managed to get through that time, but hit a few more rough patches over the years before finally getting the help she needed. Last year, when her feelings of anxiety and depression resurfaced, she turned to her famâ€" ily doctor for help. The doctor was able to connect Wrigley with a counselling service, however it would be a couple of months before she would be able to speak with a professional. "It was frustrating," Wrigley said. "I had to wait 10 weeks and during that time I was in rough shape." Wrigley isn‘t alone when it comes to the long wait times for mental health and addiction services in Halton. According to oneâ€"Link, a single point of acâ€" cess for referrals to 10 mental health and addictions service providers funded by the Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network, the need for services far exceeds the demand of available resources not only in Walkâ€"in counselling aims to tackle long waits for mental health services Halton, but across the province. it can take days, weeks or months depending on the type of care you need, said Zoe Gordon, the manager of oneâ€"Link, Halton Healthcare. "Most systems are based on waitlists just by virtue of the volumes," she said. "We see about 70 new referrals a day." Oneâ€"Link began in 2014 and provides screenâ€" ing of clients to better match them with what kind of service they may need. It also has service coâ€"ordinators and peer mentors with limited addiction and mental health experiâ€" ence that give support to people and "most importantly hope while they wait for that necessary intake appointment to a more ro bust service delivery," said Gordon. That interim support may look like a followâ€" up phone call to check in with that person to see how they are doing and how they are coping with their symptoms. "We find a high majority of our referrals come from people who are expressing symptoms related to anxiety and also depression and people don‘t naturally know how to cope with those feelings, especially if they‘re new or if they come on suddenly," she said. "So our team is well equipped to give people some of those skills and strategies to help with their own self management while they wait for higher, intense professionals to be able 225. | Q.a-uu -JM*- Jo* ‘U& ""-".' k d k _ tb s MERCEDES BENZ â€" OAKVILLE NAT|0NAL BANK CANADA FREEDOM 55 FINANCIAL LONGO BROTHERS FRUIT MARKETS INC P omm 200 1 all oon