Drama in Laval | Do more for mental health, but also avoid stigma

The bus driver who ran into a daycare center in the Sainte-Rose district, at the start of the day on Wednesday in Laval, illustrates once again that municipalities must do more to fight against mental health problems, said Mayor Stéphane Boyer. If they agree on the principle, experts however warn that one must “be careful” in order to avoid “stigmatising” psychiatric problems.

Deeply “upset”, like the rest of the population, Mr. Boyer went to the scene of the tragedy, late Wednesday morning, to meet the families affected. During a press scrum, the mayor affirmed that “mental health is an extremely important issue” and that “unfortunately, Laval has been the scene of several tragedies in recent months”. “It is an issue that must be taken seriously,” he insisted.

In interview with The Press, he then specified that the phenomenon “is not unique to Laval”. “Right now, we are experiencing a lot of crises: there was the pandemic, we talk a lot about inflation, the context of the war in Europe. All of this puts a lot of psychological pressure on individuals,” he said.

In his view, “there is no magic or easy solution to resolve the issue”, but it is up to the cities to invest more in prevention. “At home, in the last budget, we put around $3 million to better support our organizations in social development, family support, homelessness, precisely to act more in prevention. Too often, these organizations cannot finance their activities to the level of the needs”, insisted Mr. Boyer.

He says he finds it “difficult to put words to this tragedy”, but expects to have “more answers in the coming days”, as the investigation progresses. “For me, today, it is above all to tell the families of Laval that we are going to be there for them, that we are going to do everything to offer them the necessary support,” he said.

Beware of stigma

While they welcome the desire to do more to combat mental health problems, the experts consulted by The Press recall, however, that warnings are necessary when talking about potential psychiatric problems and criminality.

“You always have to be careful not to always immediately think, when there is a serious crime like the one that has just happened, that it is due to someone who suffers from a psychiatric illness. Of course that can be the case, but there are also other people who can commit crimes, such as people who have difficulty managing their emotions, personality disorders or substance abuse problems. There are plenty of other possible reasons, ”explains the D^r Mathieu Dufour, head of the psychiatry department at the Philippe-Pinel Institute.

In his eyes, we collectively often tend to “stigmatize people who have mental health problems”. “We think, for example, that they are necessarily violent. But in fact, a person who has a psychiatric illness is more often the victim of violence than the perpetrator of violence”, illustrates the D^r From the oven.

The director general of the Association of Psychiatrists of Quebec, Martine Dériger, is also of this opinion. “In this case, it is still very early to decide. A mental health problem, you can’t assess that from a distance. We are talking about very complex situations, which you have to take the time to properly assess before anything else,” she says.

On Facebook, Wednesday, psychiatrist Marie-Eve Cotton also issued this warning. “After the tragedy in Old Quebec, everyone cried schizophrenia. This was not confirmed by subsequent evaluations. 23% of mass killers have a mental illness, so it’s possible, but not automatic. Hatred is not a mental illness,” she wrote.

In the eyes of the D^D Cotton, “continually confusing the two stigmatizes people with mental illnesses.” “People are 2.5 times more likely to believe schizophrenics are violent than in 1950 because of the media coverage of such crimes. Sadly, these are the only times we suddenly care [à la question] and we talk about mental illnesses: it’s a problem,” she concluded.