Sask. parents say change needed to support adults living with mental illness and addiction

A teeter-totter. A game of pinball. Catch and release fishing.

The analogies used by three Saskatchewan parents — all of whom have adult children with complex mental illness and addiction — are different, but they all describe turbulent journeys through the health care and judicial systems that are supposed to offer help and protection.

The parents say systemic failures preceded incarceration and death — tragedies they say could have been prevented, had the systems helped their children.

Now the parents are working together to call for change.

"When I come to [politicians] as a concerned citizen of our country, of this province, I'm not given the time of day, and so parents are banding together," said Pam Sanderson, who lives in Regina. 

Sanderson and another Saskatchewan mom, Angela Erickson, have started a support group called Time to Heal: Families United Through Mental Health and Addictions.

"What we're doing is hoping to create an organization for those that are suffering with mental health and addictions, and also for the families," Sanderson said.

She said trying to help a loved one navigate the system can be exhausting and traumatizing for families. 

"[My son] has been my full-time job for 10 years, more than full-time. I work morning, noon and night for him," she said.

Her son Keith has struggled with severe mental illness and addictions for years, but hasn't received the help he needs to become stable. She said he teeters between incarceration and medical facilities, most often in B.C.

"I had to send my son back to British Columbia because there are absolutely no services here.… I had him in the hospital for three months here, and then once he was released, he was back on the street and he was like, he was a real danger for him[self]," she said. 

"He's back in jail, and [that's] not a place for him to be at all because once he's there, his mental health really declines."

Erickson, the co-creator of the group, similarly said her son has never received the long-term treatment needed to stabilize his severe mental illness in his adult life. 

Last month, Erickson's 29-year-old son Colton was arrested and charged with burning down several buildings and his family home near Alida, Sask. His family believes the tragedy could have been prevented and are calling for change.