Mood disorder workshop deemed positive step

Doug Cridland of Fort Frances doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to talking about manic depression–the mood disorder he’s journeyed through life with for 18 years.
He could care less about the stigma that surrounds it, but he does care very much about helping himself and others who bear the symptoms and trials of depression.
That’s the reason why he was among those on hand for a day-long conference on mood disorders Saturday at Knox United Church here.
The workshop, hosted by CANHELP, attracted people from across Northwestern Ontario who came to listen to and talk with guest speakers Tim Robertson of North Bay, North Region director for the Mood Disorder Association of Ontario, and Karen Liberman of Toronto, a consumer/survivor.
“[Liberman’s speech] really encouraged and inspired me,” Cridland, a facilitator for the manic depression support group here, said yesterday. “She made it clear what depression really is–it was very uplifting.”
Cridland, a big advocate of keeping a daily journal, said Liberman heightened a desire in him and others to continue writing down thoughts and feelings about depression and personal experiences with the disorder.
“She [motivated] me to take it and go with it–to continue writing about your stories,” he remarked.
As a facilitator, Cridland also said the conference reiterated the importance of providing a safe, informal, and private space of consumers who seek a common ground.
“It’s important to keep interest there and to keep the feeling of [trust] and confidentiality,” he noted.
“It also helps [support groups] to have people who are all basically going through the same thing but at different levels of wellness,” added Susan Marshall, team leader for CANHELP.
Robertson spoke mainly on issues surrounding the sharing of information, resources, and common concerns among different support groups throughout the region.
While it’s not always easy–given the geography of the northwest–Robertson said goals were set at the conference to make unifying the region more of a reality for the future.
“We discussed [compiling] a newsletter or having a website that different support groups could engage in,” he said. “In fact, by the end [of the day], some of the facilitators had drawn up a proposal and an action plan as to how we could [pursue] that.”