Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Guide for Students with Mental Illness

The Canadian Mental Health Association, a Toronto-based group has just released a comprehensive guide aimed at making student life less harrowing for people with a mental illness.

It is available at: http://www.cmha.ca/youreducation/

   It offers practical advice on a wide variety of topics, including selecting programs, managing the workload, getting through the courses and deciding whether to pursue graduate studies.

   The guide is posted on the association's website (www.cmha.ca) and will be available at colleges and universities across the country.

   "It's a very empowering and necessary document because many individuals with psychiatric disabilities experience mental-health issues," one York University student who has suffered serious anxiety for the past four years said in an interview.

   "It's very important to know you can pursue your academic goals in order to pursue your career goals."

   The 24-year-old woman, who did not want her name used, praised the guide, entitled Your Education -- Your Future, for its common-sense approach.

   "There are a lot of testimonials in the document and that is important because they're real-life stories where individuals who have psychiatric disabilities have been able to pursue their schooling."

   Bonnie Pape, who helped develop the guide as the association's director of programs and research, said the project got off the ground when a professor alerted her and other people to the fact students with mental illness were starting to attend university.

For more information See: http://www.cmha.ca/youreducation/