{"id":449181,"date":"2026-05-19T09:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449181\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T09:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:52:09","slug":"cape-breton-man-struggles-to-find-adequate-mental-health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449181\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Breton man struggles to find adequate mental health care"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Sydney man is struggling to get the mental health care he needs at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Christopher LeBlanc, 41, has been diagnosed with ADHD and depression. He says he has been to the adult mental health centre at the hospital more than 10 times. Each time, he was looking to speak to a psychologist or counsellor for long-term care, only to have appointments pushed months down the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s extremely challenging because if you’re out there actively trying to get help,\u201d says LeBlanc. \u201cAfter you’ve been doing it for as long as I have, it just becomes impossible to find the way out of the hoops that they are giving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last fall, he had a mental health crisis. He says he was having suicidal thoughts and was feeling manic. After going to the adult mental health centre, he says he was not able to get an intake appointment until three months later, in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AChristopher LeBlanc has been to the Cape Breton Regional Hospital more than 10 times. He says he did not receive the care he needed. (Anna Rak \/ CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you go to the regional it just feels like you’re just a number,” he says. “They just come in with the clipboard, do whatever they have to do and then you wait another four hours for them to come back in with the clipboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that January appointment, a psychologist scheduled his next appointment for a month later.<\/p>\n

At the February appointment, he says the session was not helpful and didn’t provide the continuous counselling he needs.<\/p>\n

His father, Pat LeBlanc, is his primary support. He says he has reached out to the minister of health multiple times and has not heard back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His father says: \u201cHow were we supposed to work \u2026 within the system when they’re not very willing to help?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nova Scotia Health says it has the capacity to see a patient within a week if the case is deemed urgent enough.<\/p>\n

“I’m sure there are many people that might feel that we don’t offer what they need,” says Corinna Simon, the nurse manager for mental health and addictions in the Eastern Zone. “If we don’t have those services within ours, we also spend a lot of time connecting with some of our services in the community.”<\/p>\n

Simon says people in crisis can call a 24-hour crisis line toll-free or go to their closest hospital’s emergency department. <\/p>\n

If you or someone you know is struggling:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Nova Scotia Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line<\/a> can be reached 24\/7 at 902-429-8167 or toll-free at 1-888-429-8167.The National Suicide Hotline<\/a> can be reached by call or text at 988.\u00a0Talk Suicide Canada<\/a> can be reached at 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645 (between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. AT).Kids Help Phone<\/a> can be reached 24\/7 at 1-800-668-6868 or try live chat counselling<\/a>.Anyone in Nova Scotia who is seeking mental health services can self-refer through the Mental Health and Addictions Intake Service at 1-855-922-1122 from Monday to Friday (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), as well as Tuesday and Thursday evenings (until 8 p.m.), or online 24\/7 through prebooking.nshealth.ca<\/a>.For the IWK,<\/a> intake hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Monday to Friday) and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday).<\/p>\n

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