Families at a loss of how to help
Editor:
Re: Systemic failures, March 14.
I applaud parents Gordon and Virginia Bylo for speaking out about their son, Brian, and his battle with mental illness.
My sister was misdiagnosed many years ago as schizophrenic and later diagnosed as bipolar. She, too, has been in and out of psychiatric wards where the system is unable to keep her long enough to make a difference.
Too often she is released after only 24 hours.
Like Brian, she – along with a large percentage of people suffering from mental illness – suffers from an addiction; in her case it is alcohol. Recovery centres will not take her due to her bouts of psychosis.
We are at a loss as to how to help her, and I hope stories such as the Bylos’ will help to get people talking more openly about it, which in turn may help this failed system get the attention it so deserves.
Anita Brunet, Surrey
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