An open letter from CMHA Ottawa regarding ongoing demonstrations in Ottawa

Feb 7, 2022

Ottawa branch of Canadian Mental Health Association calls for end to disruptions; highlights exacerbating effects on local individuals with mental health challenges

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022 – At the Ottawa branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA Ottawa), we provide outreach and case management services and supports for individuals in the Ottawa area experiencing severe and persistent mental health challenges.

Our clients may include our neighbours, friends, colleagues, loved ones, and acquaintances. They may be the quiet lady who lives in the apartment down the hall, the new person behind the counter of your nearest café, or the unhoused person who panhandles on the corner.

Since the arrival of the demonstrations, everyone living in Ottawa has had the specter of conflict, intimidation, and anger hanging over our city and our lives. That environment has a strong negative impact on everyone but decidedly more so on individuals in vulnerable situations.

Many of the people we serve live in the downtown core. Our passionate, dedicated frontline staff work in the community downtown at the shelters. Some of us live downtown. As a result of the demonstrations, people have been subject to harassment, intimidation, unrelenting noise and disruption, and some instances of racism, sexism, homophobia, racist and antisemitic imagery, and violence.

These circumstances can have a damaging effect on anyone, but for people experiencing mental health challenges, such as PTSD, mood disorders, victims of violence, anxiety disorders, etc., an environment like the one we are in can be doubly damaging. For individuals in recovery from mental illness and addictions, the distress of such a disruption to one’s environment can be detrimental, and the impact will persist long after the demonstration is over. The situation and experience is much the same for individuals with physical health problems and for the many who have a combination of issues, life has been made much more difficult.

The activities of the past several days have caused exceptional levels of stress, anxiety, fear and anger. Not just among the people we serve at CMHA Ottawa, but the residents of downtown Ottawa and throughout the city.

Regardless of the intentions of the protest, the consequences of its approach have already begun to cause harm to the people of Ottawa. We are calling for a quick end to the protests. We would like to urge the protestors to find a more articulate and peaceful expression of their concerns as soon as possible. We urge our leaders and civic authorities to address the ongoing disruption and trauma to our city, so we can all resume our lives with some normalcy and without further damage to our collective mental health and wellbeing. Our clients have plenty to deal with coping with the pandemic and keeping safe.

To the people of Ottawa: You are living through an unprecedented event, and you are doing it with resiliency. Please check in with each other and look after one another. Self-monitor and manage your consumption of news and images. Do the things that give you peace and joy. Seek help and support from friends, family, and health services when you need it.

For a list of mental health resources and crisis lines, visit https://ottawa.cmha.ca/about-cmha/for-clients/mental-health-resources-and-crisis-lines/