DCO Discourse...

The Canadian Community Health Survey 2004 was the first Statistics Canada survey to include a question on sexual orientation. Results indicated that among Canadians aged 18 to 59, 1.0% reported that they considered themselves to be homosexual and 0.7% considered themselves bisexual. The survey indicated that 1.3% of men considered themselves homosexual, about twice the proportion of 0.7% among wom...

In the short time that a distress line volunteer has on the phone with a caller, developing a trusting and empathetic relationship is crucial. In some areas there are high volumes of callers, forcing some distress centres to limit the time spent with each individual. This makes it particularly important that every volunteer is skilled at developing a quick and caring rapport with callers while bei...

One of the biggest challenges that Distress Line volunteers may experience is to respectfully, yet tactfully deal with challenging callers. Brigitte Bill and Arianne Richeson, the presenters of the following video provide viewers with a broad overview of the types of difficult callers that Distress Line volunteers may encounter and how to most effectively respond when in these situations. They poi...

Cynthia Clark graduated in 1998 with a Honours BA in Sociology from Carleton University. The following year her son Justin, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The Canadian Mental Health Association reports that schizophrenia typically develops into a full-blown illness in late adolescence or early adulthood. It is a disorder that affects an estimated 1 in 100 Canadians and their families. Children...

There are a number of forms of mental illness that can be characterized as mood disorders. The most commonly well known include clinical depression, bi-polar, and anxiety disorders. Over one million Canadians suffer from some form of depressive illness. Mood Disorders affect one in five people across the world. In the following interview with Karen Lieberman, the Executive Director of the Mood Dis...