Addictions & Mental Health   

Issues relating to addictions and mental health are highly prevalent in Canadian society. One in five Canadians will experience a mental illness in their lifetimes. The remaining four will have a friend, family member or colleague who will experience mental illness or addiction. One in ten Canadians aged fifteen years and older report symptoms consistent with alcohol or illicit drug dependence. About 20% of people with a mental disorder have a co-occurring substance use problem. As first responders, it is critical to possess knowledge, understanding and empathy about these topics. This course will address issues relating to the development of addictions, effects, signs and symptoms and response, as well as seeking to provide a greater understanding to the differences between mental health, mental illness and mental disorders. Finally, the course will familiarize students with concurrent disorders, a term used when a person has both a substance related disorder and a mental health disorder. No textbook required.

This course focuses on a multi-disciplinary examination of the ways in which mental health and addiction are viewed by society and how these perceptions influence society’s response to the practical and socio-political aspects of mental illness. Students will examine personal attitudes, societal myths, and stereotypes related to mental illness and addiction. Students will be challenged to critically reflect upon how their personal orientations and resulting behaviours about mental illness, addiction, and wellness impact their cultural, societal and political beliefs. Drawing on literature, arts, politics, media, medicine, and the social sciences, students will critically examine mental illness and addiction as a social construct and contrast and compare assumptions of agency, normalcy, treatment, and recovery. Students will also learn firsthand from those with mental illness, evaluate the effects of mental illness in special populations including Indigenous people and the elderly, and apply their learning through health simulation activities. Finally, students will explore ways that those affected by mental illness and addiction construct and assess themselves. No textbook required.

*NOTE: Students wanting to register for a General Education course as part of their certificate or diploma program should make sure to receive formal approval from their Program Coordinator. It should be noted that some general education courses are too close to the vocational specializations of specific programs and are therefore excluded as an option for students. It’s therefore important to receive formal approval before registration.