Thread by @IvaCheung

I was at #EMH2019 yesterday and today but couldn't live-tweet 'cause there was no wifi. #irony

.@CREST_BD has a great summary up from yesterday: crestbd.ca/2019/02/01/emh… #EMH2019

My biggest takeaways probably came from the conversations with other attendees. Learned about harm-reduction apps for sex work in Ontario: sex workers can give peers on the app information about a date. They use the app to check on each other and call for help. #EMH2019

Health services administrator from Alberta talked about how people who use substances are using apps like FaceTime to virtually use together and check on one another. #EMH2019

Also some work being done on an app where someone can declare when they're going to use and what supplies they need, and a mobile health unit would go to them and make sure they had clean equipment. #EMH2019

Interested to learn how much anonymous peer-support networks are serving communities underrepresented in traditional mental health care. Makes total sense that this would happen, but the numbers and severity of illness of some on those platforms surprised me. #EMH2019

Tom Insel talked about the complexities of navigating digital mental health challenges but said, "Empower patients and families with information. Make that your North Star." #EMH2019

[*Clears throat. Gently places this on table and leaves room…*] bcmentalhealthrights.ca

Had a presentation on digital tools to respond to the overdose crisis. Audience member from the Mental Health Commission of Canada pointed out that suicide deaths exceed overdose deaths. Yet we don't talk about them with the same "crisis" language. We've normalized them. #EMH2019

But it doesn't make sense to silo suicides and overdoses because 30% of people who suffer an overdose report that it was a deliberate act of self-harm. #EMH2019

Lot of innovative work but also some meh approaches, particularly to student mental health. Folks building apps to help students cope with stress, help connect them with resources, etc. But no real interrogation of the source of all this growing distress?? #EMH2019

It's like food banks. What should be stopgaps during periods of crisis become normal. No looking upstream. #EMH2019

One of the workshops yesterday was about online trauma support. My table indulged my hypothetical scenario, and we sketched out what a platform for people who've experienced trauma from involuntary hospitalization. Now I'm convinced something like this has to exist. #EMH2019

I heard from a lot of my interviewees—even ones who, in retrospect, felt their hospitalization helped—that the experience was traumatic for them. And they felt they weren't allowed to express distress about that trauma. #EMH2019

A place online where people who've been through this trauma could get support and acknowledgment that their feelings are valid could be pretty powerful, I think. Obvs it would have to be well executed—not a forum to foment resentment against the system. #EMH2019