As we come to the end of National Addiction Awareness Week here in Canada I’m left with many questions, but the most prominent among them is definitely: why? Why is raising awareness about this issue so damn hard? Why are we still struggling to gain social acceptance for statements like ‘all people deserve compassion’ or ‘access to effective healthcare is a human right?’ There are a lot of answers to this question, which is probably an answer in and of itself. If there are

In the wake of the tragic and, thus far, unexplainable act of violence that took place at Abbotsford Senior Secondary last week the mental health community is battening down the hatches and getting ready for a fight with a familiar beast. We know it well, and we know it's coming for us like it does after every random act of violence that people can't explain with their conventional labels. This beast will hunts us through news outlets, politicians, pundits and everyday peop