A year into Covid-19 and our already-stretched mental health services in the 905 region are seeing unprecedented levels of demand. Adults and children alike are finding the uncertainty and isolation of life during pandemic to be a challenge, and as months have become over a year, those challenges only become more difficult.

In today’s episode Joel and Roland talk to Melanie McGregor of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Halton Branch, about how Covid-19 has affected our mental health services, and the fact that access to mental health professionals can be far more difficult than it should be, because it is not fully funded under OHIP.

If you are facing mental health challenges because of Covid-19 or for any other reason, there are multiple services available to you 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Please make sure you speak to a professional as soon as possible.

If you are experiencing a crisis, call Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST): 1-877-825-9011.

If you are not in crisis, but need counselling, support or advice, CMHA Halton provides free walk-in counselling. At present this is being provided by phone. Call 289-291-5396 to speak to a counsellor within 24 hours.

Outside Halton, CMHA has branches across the GTHA and all of Ontario. Visit cmha.ca to find your local branch. You can make a donation to support CMHA’s work at cmha.donordrive.com.

Mental health services specifically for children are provided in Halton by ROCK (Reach Out Centre for Kids). Their crisis line is 905-878-9785, and they provide multiple other methods for children and parents to contact them for assistance and support, detailed on their website.

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The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

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