Dealing with Schizophrenia

Lois Bruce helps victims, families cope with disease

(July 15, 2003) - Lois Bruce knows all too well that schizophrenia is the great disabler of young people.

As a mother, Bruce suffered the heartbreak of losing her third child, Larry, a 32-year-old who took his own life in 1992 because he couldn't cope with the growing disappointments in his daily existence and couldn't see any hope around the corner.

Now, as president of the Saskatoon chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Saskatchewan, Bruce takes telephone calls daily from individuals and their families looking for answers about one of Canada's most serious health problems.

Schizophrenia is a biological disease of the brain caused by the imbalance of certain chemicals. Precise causes are unknown, but through the increasing use of medications, it is treatable.

"We are making advances in the treatment and care of those affected by the disease but, sadly, we need so much more help for them," says Bruce, who was a co-founder of the Saskatoon organization that started around a kitchen table in November, 1989. It was only two years ago the chapter secured accessible office space in the Community Service Village.

"The statistics show that the disease strikes men between the ages of 16 to 25, and women just a little later between the ages of 23 to 30. What is most frightening is that between 12 to 15 per cent will commit suicide because they cannot handle the severe depression and they don't think they have a bright future.

"In my son's case, he was about 20 when he was diagnosed with the disease. There wasn't very much literature available, many books were out-dated and medication wasn't as effective as it is today. He wanted to go to university but the stress was too much and he couldn't keep up the pace. He went into the work force, had a good paying job, but gradually as the disease took hold, his responsibilities were decreased.

"The whole family rallied around him, supported him and we took him to several doctors. But he was so disappointed that he couldn't maintain the kind of a job he wanted and he didn't think he ever would.

"There are students who will accept the challenges of going to university but they will take the courses at a slower pace. They need to avoid stress and may do so by not trying to cram everything into a year's schedule.

"There are very few companies, who will hire those affected by the disease. Our people need a certain flexibility in hours, and companies should realize that if they have employees on medication, there isn't a major loss in productivity. When it comes to getting a job, the stigma attached to the disease is often as harmful as the disease itself."

Bruce says that if persons are left untreated, they may hear and obey voices that nobody else can hear, see things that nobody else can see, suffer from extreme anxiousness, lose variation in moods, withdraw completely from family and friends, deteriorate in performance at school or work, have difficulty concentrating and sleep or eat poorly.

There was a time before the 1950s that those affected by the disease were placed in institutions. Now the use of medication allows patients to leave hospital beds, opening up the possibilities of independent living. Bruce notes there is not nearly the funding available to have enough careworkers, counsellors or trained people to support the mentally ill once they are out of hospital.

"Medications can correct the imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain, people can learn to live with varying degrees of assistance, and mostly they need friends."

It was the first-hand involvement with her son that led Bruce to what amounted to the founding of the Saskatoon chapter.

"Jennie Dickson brought a speaker up from Regina for a meeting in the Park Town Hotel. We put an advertisement in the newspaper and at meeting time, the room was filled with people. They were typical of those who needed a support group, somewhere they could go and talk about their feelings of isolation and helplessness. Within eight months, Jennie and I made some calls, invited eight to her place and that's where we began the Saskatoon chapter."

The first support meeting was held at St. Paul's United Church in Sutherland in January, 1990, and the meetings continue monthly to this day although they are now held at the W.A. Edwards Centre.

Bruce has been president since 1992, running the organization out of her home, with husband Gordon as a strong ally.

"Two years ago, we saw a notice that the Community Service Village was looking for tenants. It was a big move for us but it was so appropriate because there are other organizations, which share the same health concerns, working out of the same building. Families can come and visit us, borrow literature and videos or simply sit down and talk."

Many videos are available but one of the best is Working Together, a collection of three which allows families to deal with early psychosis.

Worthwhile, too, is an educational partnership program which is co-ordinated by Curtis Harmon, an employee.

"Curtis takes a team out to speak to schools and businesses. One of the speakers is an individual who has the disease and is willing to tell their story. Another part of the team is a member of a family, affected by the disease. And a third member is a health professional."

Harmon has booked over 100 presentations, through to September, 2003, and by that time, the teams will have reached more than 2,300 people.

Fund-raising has become important, too. The Saskatoon chapter organizes A Walk for Schizophrenia on an annual basis. The walk lasts about 30 minutes, its participants collect pledges, and this year's event will held Sept. 28. Now in its 11th year, the walk usually returns about $14,000 annually.

For her leadership role, Bruce was the winner of the Human Services award by Volunteer Saskatoon in early May.

Her work seemed to be a natural thing. She was born in Saskatoon, one of four children in the family of Harry and Nettie Hamilton, who farmed just outside of Hanley.

As longtime farmers, the Hamiltons asked their children to put work before pleasure and to produce to the best of their ability.

After going to elementary school in a district near Hanley, she took some high school by correspondence course and finished with Grade 11 and 12 studies in Hanley.

And then an interesting turn took place in her life.

"Seven young men were playing in a band at Hanley, playing the weekend dances in the district. They needed a piano player so I agreed. We did that for two years and we even toured much of Saskatchewan one summer."

That fuelled her love of music and, after attending business college in Saskatoon and working six years in the accounting department of The StarPhoenix, she launched a career as a music teacher and stayed with it for 45 years.

"In my busiest weeks, I'd have 40 to 45 students, most in the Sutherland district where we added a studio to the home, and there is nothing quite like the one-on-one teaching you do. You see the very best in all of them."

Only when she saw the necessity to become a promoter of the Saskatoon chapter of Schizophrenia Saskatchewan did she give up the music lessons.

She and her husband, Gordon, a longtime employee of Co-Op and later a real estate salesman, will celebrate their 52nd anniversary today. They have three children: Judy McLean, a trust administrator at Co-Op Trust and a piano teacher in Saskatoon; David, an engineer who works for Bell Canada in Edmonton; and Ken, who is a computer analyst with Federated Co-Op in Saskatoon. There are four grandchildren.

"According to statistics, one in 100 can be affected by schizophrenia. People with the illness often hesitate to discuss the frightening symptoms they're enduring.

"It is really important for us to help those with the illness and provide the emotional support to their families. Given proper medication and support, many can lead reasonably comfortable lives," says Bruce.

Source: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)

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