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This article is sponsored by a member of Innovative Medicines Canadaii

Ron Campbell smiles a lot more than he used to. Although the

retired RCMP officer from Edmonton still has some down days, many

more of them are good, which wasn’t always the case. Not long ago

Treating depression goes further thanfighting stigmaRecent data shows that one in five Canadians will experience amental health problem

F O L L O W M E O N T W I T T E R HEIDI WESTFIELD,

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when he woke up in the morning, he’d feel that there was nothing to

look forward to.

For part of his career, Campbell worked as a hostage negotiator and

a homicide investigator. He raced into crisis after crisis and

witnessed many horrific scenes over the years. But it was the

shooting death of a friend and colleague that proved to be a tipping

point, triggering feelings of despair, guilt and thoughts of suicide.

After nearly taking his own life, Campbell reached out for help.

“I’ve been in some crazy situations, but I’ve never been so scared as

the time I walked into the psychologist’s office,” Campbell recalls. “It

was the most difficult step I’ve ever made in my life.”

Doctors first diagnosed the retired officer with post-traumatic stress

disorder (PTSD). A few years later, he was also found to have a

major depressive disorder. Fortunately, Campbell had access to the

RCMP’s employee health benefits plan, which paid for counselling

and offered access to a range of treatments, including the latest

innovative medicines.

Recent data shows that one in five Canadians will experience a

mental health problem. Depression is the most common mental

disorder and, according to the World Health Organization, is the

leading cause of workplace disability. It’s a complex condition that

affects people in different ways.

“Ten different people can walk into my office and have very different

expressions of depression,” says Dr. Patrick Smith, CEO of the

Canadian Mental Health Association. He says most older

medications focus on mood because that’s how depression was first

understood, but we now know that there are 227 combinations of

symptoms. “It’s not just about mood,” Dr. Smith says.

Depression can affect many things,including sleep and appetite.” Newer

medications focus on othersymptoms along with mood and can

come with fewer side effects- Dr. Patrick Smith, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association

Dr. Smith is currently working to raise awareness about what he sees

as a dramatic inequity for Canadians living with depression. Patients

with private health coverage have access to a wide range of

prescription medicines, including the latest innovative therapies, but

those who don’t have coverage through their employers or who can’t

afford private drug coverage have far fewer options. Public drug

programs, Dr. Smith points out, won’t reimburse patients for a long

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list of depression medications that have been deemed safe and

effective for use.

“When it comes to depression specifically, there is a huge gap in the

types of medications you have access to, whether you have [private

employer] coverage or not,” he says. “I think most Canadians don’t

understand that. People who are unemployed or already

marginalized have the added challenge of not having access to the

full range of medications that may be effective for them.”

Growing up in Ottawa, Brianne Moore experienced high levels of

anxiety as a young girl and felt overwhelmed by feelings of sadness.

As her condition worsened she became increasingly withdrawn.

Moore engaged in self-harm in her early teens and tried to take her

own life several times. Her erratic behaviour caused tensions in the

family, and she spent time living in a youth shelter.

A diagnosis by doctors at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

helped turn her life around. Moore learned she was living with

borderline personality disorder, persistent depressive disorder, an

eating disorder and generalized anxiety. She was prescribed

medication to stabilize her symptoms, along with counselling. While

she had more tools to manage her mental health, it wasn’t easy. At

one point, when she was 17, Moore had to pay for her prescription

medication out-of-pocket, making her an example of the 1.8% of

Canadians who have no drug coverage or the 10% who don’t know

they have coverage, according to a recent Conference Board of

Canada analysis.

“There was a period when I was living on my own and paying for my

own medication,” Moore says. “I would think, ‘Am I going to pay for

my medications or am I going to pay to get myself dinner? What

does my bank account look like?’”

While she now has drug coverage through Ontario’s extended drug

benefit plan, Moore continues to empathize with Canadians who are

falling through the drug coverage cracks. Indeed, according to

various surveys, mental health medications are among the top

medications that patients do not adhere to generally, for any reason,

so cost barriers due to lack of or inadequate drug coverage would

only exacerbate this.

Moore is fortunate that her particular depression medication is

covered by her provincial drug plan. However, there continues to be

patients that respond best to certain types of depression medications

that aren’t covered by public drug plans. According to IQVIA claims

data, in 2016 there were 55% more anti-depressants and mood

stabilizer drugs (DINs) reimbursed in private plans in Ontario

compared to public plans.

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She says she’d like to see all Canadians who live with mental health

disorders have the same access to medications, and the same

opportunities to get better.

Similarly, thanks to his ability to access both therapy and innovative

treatments for his PTSD and depression, Campbell says he finally

feels happier and more in control. “For some of us, therapy isn’t

enough,” he says. “It doesn’t fix the neurochemistry in our brains.

The right medications can do that for us.” Doctors needed to tweak

his medications several times to find the combination that worked

best for him, and he is grateful. “I am absolutely convinced that

without counselling and medication, I wouldn’t be here.”

This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial

content division and Patient Diaries, on behalf of Innovative

Medicines Canada (IMC) and an IMC member company

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