A psychiatrist is a specialist doctor.
You can find a registered psychiatrist through the TAAL+ network. For details, contact us.

A psychiatrist is a specialist doctor.
You can find a registered psychiatrist through the TAAL+ network. For details, contact us.

Support groups are a way for people with a common experience to help each other and learn from each other. There are support groups for people with any experience of mental illness, support groups for people with a specific diagnosis, support groups for family members and friends, and more.
Support groups are offered by community organizations, mental health service providers, schools, campuses, and support agencies. Here are some general resources to help you find a mental health or substance use related support group in TAAL+ network:

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor with extra training in mental health who can choose to prescribe medications. Some use psychotherapy approaches like cognitive-behavioural therapy to treat mental health problems. Many psychiatrists work at hospitals, clinics, or health centres, and some have a private office. As they are specialist doctors, you will almost always need another doctors referral to see a psychiatrist, and fees are covered by MSP.

A registered psychologist focuses on different talk therapy or counselling approaches to treatments, but they don’t prescribe medication. They have graduate degrees in psychology. There are two different ways to access registered psychologists: the public system and the private system. Registered psychologists in the public system work in some hospitals or schools. However, most people need to access registered psychologists through the private system. To do this, you can contact the psychologist yourself” you do not need a referral. TAAL+ can link you to a registered psychologist though the network. A registered psychologists fees charged by hour vary, and some offer lower fees to people with lower incomes.

You can connect with us for more detailed information.

Stress and anxiety are often used interchangeably, and there is overlap between stress and anxiety. Stress is related to the same as Fight Flight, or Fright response as anxiety, and the physical sensations of anxiety and stress may be very similar.
The cause of stress and anxiety are usually different, however.
Stress focuses on mainly external pressures on us that we are finding hard to cope with. When we are stressed, we usually know what we are stressed about, and the symptoms of stress typically disappear after the stressful situation is over.
Anxiety, on the other hand, isn’t always as easy to figure out. Anxiety focuses on worries or fears about things that could threaten us, as well as anxiety about the anxiety itself. Stress and anxiety are both part of being human, but both can be problems if they last for a long time or have an impact on our well-being or daily life.

A personality disorder is a pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that last for a long time and causes some sort of problem or distress.
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder or OCPD is about control. People with OCPD have very inflexible thinking and expect everything to be ordered, perfect, and done their “correct” way. This happens at the expense of other important things in life, including relationships with others. Work can take priority over every other part of life, too, and people with OCPD may seem excessively dedicated, but may be unable to complete tasks due to perfectionism. They may struggle to delegate and may distrust other peoples contributions. People with OCPD may not tolerate uncertainty and may have a very rigid understanding of the world something is either right or wrong. They may also have a hard time spending money on themselves or others, and they may experience hoarding, the inability to throw away items from their homes. The conflict between the desire for neatness or order and the inability to throw things out may cause a lot of anxiety.
While obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have a similar name, they are not the same illness. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder usually understand that their obsessions and compulsions are illogical and usually experience a lot of distress, even though they may not be able to stop obsessions or compulsions. Compulsions are an attempt to reduce anxiety, not to find pleasure. People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder may view their thoughts as part of who they are, see their thoughts as logical, and may find pleasure or benefit in completing compulsive tasks. They may experience a lot of distress when they cant achieve control or the perfectionism they want.
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is one of the most common personality disorders. Treatment may include some combination of psychotherapy, medication, and self-help strategies. To find help for OCPD, talk to experts by contacting us

Sometimes, people confuse dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia does mean split mind, but the name was meant to describe the split from reality that you experience during an episode of psychosis, as well as changes in thoughts, emotions, and other functions. Dissociative identity disorder, on the other hand, does cause a split or fragmented understanding of a persons sense of themselves.
Dissociative identity disorder is really more about fragmented identities than many different personalities that develop on their own. DID may not be obvious to others, and it can take a lot of time to come to the diagnosis.
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that causes hallucinations (sensations that aren’t real) and delusions (beliefs that cant possibly be true, in addition to other symptoms like jumbled thoughts, jumbled speech, and difficulties expressing emotions. People who experience schizophrenia may hear or feel things that aren’t real or believe things that cant be real, but these aren’t separate identities.

Psychosis is a syndrome or group of symptoms. Someone experiencing an episode of psychosis is having a break with reality. Major symptoms of psychosis are hallucinations and delusions. Hallucinations are sensations that are not real, such as hearing voices or sounds that aren’t real. Hearing voices is a common hallucination, but hallucinations can be experiences with any sense hearing, sight, smell, taste, or touch. Psychosis can even affect the way people move or express their emotions.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that causes psychosis, but schizophrenia also has other symptoms. And it isn’t the only cause of psychosis. In some cases, other mental illnesses cause psychosis, including depression, bipolar disorder, dementia and borderline personality disorder. Psychosis may come up during times of extreme stress, a major lack of sleep, or trauma. People who are using or withdrawing from certain drugs or medications may experience psychosis. Psychosis may also be caused by a brain injury, neurological problem, or other health problem. So while psychosis can be a part of schizophrenia, it can be caused by many other things too.
Psychosis and schizophrenia are treatable. Its important to seek help as soon as possible.

People tend to use the word addiction to mean very different things. Substance use is more complicated than just good or bad. Its helpful to think of substance use along a continuum, from beneficial use to harmful use. Along the middle of the continuum, substance use may be both beneficial and harmful. You have an enjoyable night out with friends, but feel a little ill the next day. At the far end of the continuum, some people develop dependence, they need to continually use the drug in order to feel normal and will keep using even when that leads to financial difficulties, problems at home or at work, health problems, or legal problems.
In general, substance use is a problem when it causes problems for you or others and how much use causes problems will be different for different people in different situations. The reason a person uses a substance influences the risk of developing problems. For instance, if a person uses a substance to have fun, only occasional social use may follow. But when a person uses a substance to cope with a long-term problem such as social anxiety, then more long lasting and intense use may follow. Managing our risk involves being aware of why we are using and what impacts our use is having on ourselves and those around us.
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Seeking to make changes in the way you use substances like alcohol or other drugs? This can be an important step!
Some people are able to reduce their substance use or quit altogether on their own or with self-help materials. But most of us need support from other people, family members, friends, health professionals, or other people struggling with substance use problems. The right help for you depends on many factors. These include the type of drug you are using, how much and how often, your health and social situation and, of course, your own preferences. Getting help doesn’t mean giving up control of shaping your own path. You are still the one who makes the final decisions about the type and degree of change you make.