Rejected: A woman’s fight in the dark hole of B.C.’s mental health and addiction systems

Kerstyn Striemer has invisible wounds from a lifelong battle with mental health and addiction. 

Striemer’s journey to accessing help has been nothing but a struggle. Every morning, she wakes up wondering if the weight of this stigma will ever disappear. 

At 34, with a two-year-old son and in school for social work, Striemer wants to speak her truth to heal the cracks in the health-care system — a system that turned her away and judged her harshly in a time of need. 

She remembers being in the hospital, physically ill, but not getting an ounce of help unless she was in psychological distress. She’d receive four words from hospital staff — “We can’t help you.” Striemer’s long journey with mental health and addiction made her feel judged and rejected. 

By calling for kindness, listening, and understanding for those who need it most, Striemer’s goal is to get rid of the stigma surrounding mental health and addiction. 

She shares her story in hopes the system will prioritize showing compassion and support for those who are suffering and inspire at least one person to speak on their struggles. 

In Canada, British Columbians face above-average barriers to accessing mental health and addiction support compared to the rest of the country. Nearly 10 per cent of British Columbia’s mental health and addiction services are fully or partially unmet, which is higher than the national average of 7.8 per cent, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) reported. 

The CMHA’s northern B.C. division found that each year nearly one million British Columbians will encounter a mental health illness by the time they are 40. Canada has also seen an increase in opioid-related deaths, with the highest rate of deaths coming from British Columbia, Statistics Canada reported.

Striemer says she struggled with mental health and addiction her whole life, being diagnosed with ADHD at age five and bipolar disorder by 12. Striemer was always seeking help, but support was hard to come by.

From long waitlists to being stigmatized and treated poorly by health-care professionals, Striemer says she would only get help if she was about to fall off the edge. 

“[The hospital] would not admit me because I was not suicidal or homicidal,” she says. “I just wanted help, and they would not take me.”

Long waitlists, judgment, and a lack of followup support from Northern Health made Striemer feel like she was the only one fighting for her health. Getting into programs was a constant fight, she says, and the vicious cycle of getting into one only to be released a week later was frustrating.

“They let you out, you’re [going through] withdrawals, but now you are back in the same environment, the same situation. You haven’t healed at all, and there’s no more support,” Striemer says. “I felt like [health-care professionals] treated me like I was delusional.”

Northern Health did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite the lack of support, Striemer says she kept going for herself. No matter how much she wanted to give up, she knew she needed to advocate for and give a voice to those who needed support but could not speak for themselves. 

“I need to help heal other people and guide them,” Striemer says. “We need to change the world, enough is enough.” 

Counsellors see this gap in the system all too well. Lia Margueratt, clinical supervisor for Langley Community Services Society, says there are systemic challenges people face when seeking mental health and addiction help and how these challenges create gaps for those who need access to help. Waitlists are one of the largest challenges. 

“My waitlist right now for community counselling is 150-people deep. People are waiting for five months. People call me in crisis, and there are no emergency services available,” Margueratt says. “I can get you more support for a broken toe than I can for your mental health.”

Stigma is another significant challenge Margueratt has noticed over her 17-and-a-half years working as a counsellor. She says the stigma makes opening up and asking for help much more challenging and vulnerable. 

Accessing support and taking time off work to take care of your health is stigmatized and a struggle for most who are fighting a battle with mental health and addiction, she says, adding it’s important to be an advocate for your health. 

“You’ve got to go through it. Find someone that you can go through it with who makes you feel safe,” Margueratt says. “Give yourself the grace that it takes time and that we are all walking wounded.”

Counsellors like Margueratt say the system is failing those who need help the most, but

not all parts of B.C. suffer equally. 

Claire Rattée, MLA for Skeena in northern B.C., says the system has failed those in need of mental health and addiction support. The provincial government lacks urgency in getting programs and support to northern B.C., where it is needed most, she says. 

“[Treatment] needs to be accessible and it needs to be equitable …. You would be looking at a six-to-eight-hour drive [from northern B.C.] just to be able to access treatment services,” Rattée says. 

“My understanding is that the psychologist is only here once every four months. So as you can imagine … if this person is only coming up once every four months, they’re not going to be able to see everybody.”

The B.C. government is not doing nearly enough to address the mental health and addiction crisis in the north region of the province, Rattée says. 

She adds that provincial funding also doesn’t flow up to north B.C. as much as it should.  

“I understand that our population isn’t quite the same, but we have a lot of unique challenges geographically in being able to access services,” Rattée says. 

“[The B.C. government] is increasing funding for mental health and addiction by about $2 million, but it states very clearly that they’re not building any treatment centres …. We are aware that people need access, and yet, the funding is not following that crisis. It speaks to priorities.”

Striemer is just one of many British Columbians who have faced mental health and addiction support barriers. With a lack of funding going towards these issues, waitlists getting longer, and stigmas staying put, Striemer still hasn’t lost hope. 

“Just keep trying to reach out,” she says. “You are not broken …. Just keep going.”