5 FAQS About Navigating Mental Health

In this episode of 5 FAQs, host Jonathan Friedman speaks with Dr. Suanne Wong about levels of care when it comes to navigating mental health and addiction care.

Everyone that begins treatment does not arrive at the same place on the spectrum. It’s essential to choose the right level based on individual needs. But because of the stigma that still surrounds topics like depression, trauma, and addiction, many people are afraid to ask questions or talk to their families about their struggles. We went to Dr. Wong to get the answers.

THE 5 FAQs WE WILL ANSWER:
1. What are the levels of care and how do they cater to various needs?
2. What factors should individuals consider when choosing the right level of care for their mental health needs?
3. What are some common misconceptions about inpatient mental health care?
4. What role do family and support systems play in determining the right level of care?
5. What’s next for mental health care in terms of accessibility and treatment options?

Learn more about EHN Canada and starting your own mental health treatment journey at ehncanada.com.

To learn about how EHN Guardians supports Military, Veterans and First Responder communities, click here: ehnguardians.ca.

Transcript

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (00:09)
Hey there, my name is Jonathan Friedman and you are listening to the Five FAQs podcast by EHN Canada. This is the show where we scour the internet for the most frequently asked questions about mental health and addiction and ask an expert for their answers to them. Today it is my honor and my pleasure to introduce to you my special guest, Dr. Suan Wong. Suan is Senior Director of Business Development here at EHN Canada. She studied and practiced medicine in the UK for seven years before returning to Canada where she has thrived in combining her clinical background

with business strategy and leadership. Sueann is passionate about high quality patient care and is proud to be working with the growing team here at EHN Canada, helping to build a path towards mental health care that is accessible, affordable and excellent. Sueann, welcome to the show.

Suanne Wong (00:54)
Hi Jonathan, thank you for having me.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (00:57)
I'm so, so, so excited about this episode. I've been waiting, not so patiently, but we're here. We made it.

Suanne Wong (01:02)
Yes, exactly.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (01:07)
Before we get into the five questions, I'd like to ask you a bit of a question before, a preview, a little appetizer. So tell us and tell the listeners a bit more about your journey into healthcare. How did you get to where you are today?

Suanne Wong (01:24)
Yeah, I mean, in your intro, you kind of touched on it. I did start off in medicine. I trained and studied in the UK and then was there for seven years before I came back home to Toronto. And at which point I actually got connected into the corporate space. And I've been very lucky to have worked for two companies that, you know, align with my values and make me feel like I'm making a really great impact.

in a different way and just using my skills to change the world in a way that I wasn't initially expecting. And so I first got connected with a healthcare startup. We did something called clinical decision support, which is really making some waves in the medical space currently. And then I was with that company for about five years before I transitioned over to EH in Canada. And I've been here for about four and a half years now.

And again, really feeling like I'm able to affect change and to do something really important with my skills and my knowledge.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (02:30)
When the work you do aligns with your values, it's really, really important. And the team here is very lucky to have you. But now, Sue Ann, are you ready to get down to the nitty gritty? Because we have, again, the internet's five biggest questions on mental health treatment across the spectrum of care. And we'd love your insight on it. All right. Question number one. I feel like family feuds sometimes. Question number one.

Suanne Wong (02:35)
Mm

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (03:00)
What are levels of care? Can you explain the different levels of care available for mental health treatment and how they cater to various needs?

Suanne Wong (03:09)
Yes, I think especially when it comes to mental health, trauma and addiction treatment and like anything in life, I think it's really important to have things or levels, different types of treatment or ways of addressing something that is appropriate for the level of severity or the types of symptoms that you're actually experiencing.

you know, so just like you, you know, we have a small cut on your arm versus a break. we have different ways to approach those problems and to provide healing and support. I, and you wouldn't apply the same things that you would for a broken bone that you would apply to a small cut on your arm. and the same thing applies to mental health and mental health treatment. is that every

every individual is experiencing their symptoms and their struggles in a different way and a different level of magnitude. And so depending on that level, it really makes sense to have a different level of care. So whether that's a different type of service provided by a different type of professional or a different.

structure of program and treatment regimen that makes most sense for that person and to really support them into recovery. And so when we look at different levels of care and what they are currently, there are certainly multiple and they have expanded over the last few years as well. I think what most people understand or are familiar with are sort of the extremes.

So on the more mild end, most people understand that there are therapists out there that you can seek help with and will give you a one -on -one or individual counseling. Tends to be kind of once a week type of cadence, maybe a little bit more frequently or a little bit less depending on what you need. And then on the more severe end of the spectrum, we have inpatient stays. So that's within a hospital setting, in a residential setting.

And those are situations where you're really getting 24 -7 care and really intensive support for somebody who is very much experiencing very intense symptoms of the mental health or the addiction issue that they're struggling

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (05:43)
it sounds like on one side you have maybe at a lower level and lower and higher is probably not the best way, but in this stepped model, we'll take a look at it that way. have something like psychoeducation or self -help. And then next there's things like therapy and counseling and group counseling. And then there's virtual intensive treatment where you're doing six, seven, eight, nine hours of treatment a week.

There's inpatient treatment. There's all of these services that span that spectrum. Is that right?

Suanne Wong (06:15)
Exactly,

I think a lot of that is this middle aspect or some of the lesser-known approaches to therapy and to treatment that have really blossomed over the last couple years that a lot of people are still not familiar with and so it really is important to realize and to understand all the different options that are available.

you out there when you are struggling and it's not just not just the extremes of the spectrum.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (06:44)
That's really, really helpful. And that actually is a great segue into our second question, which is, what factors should individuals consider when choosing the right level of care for their mental health needs?

Suanne Wong (06:59)
A lot of it is what level of symptoms you're experiencing. And now, of course, you yourself, the individual, you may not have a lot of insight into that and it may be difficult to determine. And so that is the point where a professional can certainly help. And there are different types of mental health professionals out there that you can seek support with. Obviously, family doctors are a really great

frontline and first line of advice and consultation. And they can often help direct you to a professional who they trust and work with. But of course, kind of once you get into more specialized mental health professionals, you have everything from a therapist or a counselor, to psychologists, to psychiatrists, who are physicians who are specialized in mental health.

and are able to prescribe medications if that is something that you also require in terms of your support and your treatment. So I think a first line would be to seek some professional help and somebody who can least have a couple of initial conversations with you and help you figure out where your symptoms land and what type of treatment and what level of support you're really requiring.

Because really if you're seeing somebody on a one -on -one basis and after a couple of sessions you're really not making a lot of progress and you're not feeling like it's making a huge difference for you. It may be that you need to move up a level in terms of intensity of treatment. And so that could be an opportunity for you and your therapist to figure out what that next step looks like.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (08:50)
So what are some of the things that you're noticing? Like maybe I've heard about therapy, I've been scrolling on TikTok and I'm seeing like, okay, like I have these five things, I have ADHD, if I have these five things or if I'm drinking this much in a day, I'm struggling with alcoholism. If I'm there, like what are the things I wanna be taking notice in myself to say, hmm, maybe I should actually like take that step and talk to a therapist or talk to my family doctor.

about what's been going on in my head. Are we seeing these things as relational points? Like, where do we start to open ourselves up to that conversation? What are we noticing in ourselves?

Suanne Wong (09:32)
for sure. I mean, I think the first piece is that you are noticing something. Something is off, something is wrong, and things just don't feel perhaps normal or what's normal for you. And that's important to highlight because what's normal for you may be different to somebody else. And so it is key to kind of

be insightful and introspective and be aware of your body and your mind and what is feeling out of place when it comes to your own mental health. But if you are noticing things, I'm not enjoying things as much as I used to. I'm not able to interact with my friends as well as I used to. It's starting to impact your family, people you love around you.

It's starting to impact the activities that you engage in and typically enjoy, or even if it's impacting your work, if you are currently working. Those are usually very clear signs that you are struggling with something that's having a significant impact in your life and that seeking help is a good thing. The other aspect would be external feedback.

And so if your friends and your family are also noticing that you're different, you've changed, you're maybe not handling situations in quite the same way that you used to or certain stresses are really impacting you a lot more than previously, that would also be another flag that maybe it's time to seek some help.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (11:21)
In a previous episode, I was talking to a good friend of mine, Dr. Jon Rom, and we were exploring the DSM, the Diagnostic Statistic Manual of Mental Health Disorders. I hope I got that right. We'll find out.

Suanne Wong (11:34)
No.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (11:35)
We'll find out in posts. But one of the things in our discussion was that this idea of something becomes disordered when it affects the different areas of your life.

in myself, I'm to notice not necessarily that I have, you know, these eight inventory items from the DSM, but I might notice that, wow, I can't host a podcast because I'm like, I'm really feeling that stress about talking to people and stress is normal. I might feel it one day. I might feel it a second day, but if I'm suddenly not showing up to work, I'm not able to have my meetings. I'm not able to present.

Suanne Wong (11:56)
Mm

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (12:14)
that's starting to affect my life in a negative way. And for everybody in their own situation, it'll look a little bit different. But within the context of levels of care, it's not just about noticing it sounds like, and correct me if I'm wrong, for that first level, not first step. You might be in therapy for a year, going through cognitive behavioral therapy or going once a week. You might be in maintenance, seeing your therapist a couple times a month.

Suanne Wong (12:18)
Hmm.

you

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (12:41)
And then things start to shift again and things are different. And it's important to note that, okay, cool, you're in therapy, that's fantastic. But what are we starting to notice that's different now? And what other things should we start to access to rekindle that care as such?

Suanne Wong (12:59)
Yes, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it is that little turning point, I think, that really should motivate you to try and find help. Now, the other, I think, piece of that is it is difficult to put up your hand. And as much as some individuals may be realizing that something is wrong and that they do need some assistance,

I completely recognize that making that first step and asking for somebody to support you can be one of the hardest things to actually do. Regardless of what level of care you're needing or what level of severity you're struggling with, that first step can be really difficult.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (13:47)
Yeah, and you did a beautiful segue into our third question. I didn't plan it, it just happened. But what is the stigma around accessing this higher level of care?

Suanne Wong (14:00)
I mean, stigma, unfortunately, as much as we are now, I feel like more open to talking about mental health in ourselves, others, in our family, our friends, the conversation is wonderful and we've made leaps and bounds in that space. But at the end of the day, there still are a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about what mental health is.

who it affects and what it actually means for somebody who's struggling with their mental health. And as a result of those misunderstandings, whether that's things that you've internalized or perceptions that other people have voiced to you, or it's cultural, it's the way you've been raised, there are many, many factors, I think, that put barriers in front of us when we're trying to seek help.

And, you know, in part of that, you know, one could just be

the type of people that is often perceived as struggling with mental health. And I would say that is a strong misconception, but there is still a lot of judgment and blame and shame on those who are struggling and placing the blame on it being a choice.

or something that they brought on themselves when that really isn't the case and that does present significant challenges on individuals who really need support in a very vulnerable time. I think another piece of it is not being familiar with the unknown. So if you've never encountered mental health,

in your family, in your close circle of friends, and you don't have an understanding of what the next steps are when it comes to therapy or treatment or higher up in the chain of intensity of care, it can be really scary to not know what you're heading into. If you have absolutely no idea what's going to happen, if you reach out to your therapist, are they going to send you to the hospital? Are they going to keep you there out of your

you know, without your consent. And, you know, there's a lot of dramatization and misrepresentations of how individuals with mental health are treated in society and in many parts of our world. And so that can carry on into really holding people back from being open and honest.

about how they're feeling.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (17:05)
Absolutely. I think that's really interesting and I think an interesting piece of it is to kind of go back to how you were describing physical medicine versus mental medicine. When we're talking about physical care, you might notice you have a pain in your arm and your first thing to do is you're gonna go to a doctor and they'll go through the process. They might do an x -ray, they might do an MRI, which...

We don't even have to really describe. We know people have a good sense of what an x -ray is and what an MRI is. And they might determine, okay, this pain in your arm is nothing, or it's arthritis, or plot twist, you sprained or broke your arm, something like that. But I don't think we societally have a similar, we don't have that same vocabulary when it comes to our mental health. And part of it, in another episode, we were talking about...

the double -edged sword of social media and how it's great because we're having more and more conversations and we're learning, like, we're having people come up to us and say, hey, I wonder if I have this. And that's really interesting. Now, nobody should self -diagnose, but it's good to notice what's going on and to have that vocabulary and to say, hmm, I have that pain here and I need to go ask for that support.

Suanne Wong (18:07)
You

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (18:22)
And I think that's something that we all kind of have to take time and educate ourselves on, not necessarily when we're in that heightened state. It's important to know for when we are there, but it's good to know and to look at when we're not in that heightened state. Or if we're a family member or a loved one or a friend even, or a colleague at work, it's important to take that time to notice

Suanne Wong (18:40)
Okay.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (18:50)
These are the things, these are the resources people can access. And this is what we might notice in our friends, our family members, our loved ones when they are struggling and how to direct them to that care and that system. Yeah.

Suanne Wong (19:02)
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Especially, I think you said it really well, when you're in a heightened state, it's very difficult to navigate a system that is already fairly challenging. And there are so many options out there. And it is hard to understand what is available for you and what's appropriate for you, especially when you are

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (19:16)
Right.

Suanne Wong (19:28)
emotional and vulnerable and in a situation that is not conducive to logical, rational understanding of information. And that goes the same both for the individual who's struggling as well as the family members and the loved ones who are trying to help and support. Really everybody is in a very vulnerable state at that time and so you're exactly right. It makes sense to

understand the resources when you are in a calm and safe state of mind where you're able to process that information well.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (20:08)
love that. that brings us to our next question, is what role do family and friendship community support systems play in supporting someone who is struggling with their mental health?

Suanne Wong (20:20)
Huge. You know, someone with a support system around them has much better chances of success and finding help and recovery than somebody who has no connections at all. So one that's already, you know, a significant advantage and obviously, you know, loved ones and family can facilitate an individual in getting help in the first place. Now, that individual

may not be the most willing person to go to treatment or to seek help in the first place, but certainly loved ones can help motivate them to get there. And then the other piece is through going through treatment and therapy and then coming back out of treatment, recovery is a difficult thing. It is a lifelong.

commitment to being in recovery every day and to working on the things and the skills and the structure that continue to reinforce recovery. And so that's a lot of work for one person to shoulder. And again, having a supportive network of people around you who help you on that journey and our understanding of that journey makes a huge difference.

However, saying that though, we also mentioned that loved ones and family members also undergo a lot of emotions and lot of turbulence when supporting somebody who is struggling. And so it's important for both sides to look after themselves. Of course, the individual struggling really needs intervention in that moment and support whether that's

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (21:54)
Right?

Suanne Wong (22:10)
therapy or outpatient intensive treatment or all the way into inpatient residential care. But also the family and the loved ones have likely gone through a lot of emotional ups and downs themselves and may have forgotten to take care of themselves in supporting somebody they love and they know may have forgotten to set boundaries. And it's very easy for caregivers, for people who are giving all the time.

and to not remember that you also need to be well and strong and healthy if you're going to support somebody else.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (22:49)
And I think Dr. Weiss brought this up recently where he was talking about, you know, that analogy of the airplane with the oxygen mask and how you have to put it on yourself before you put it on other people. And when we're not taking care of ourselves and accessing those resources for us as hard or as difficult as it may be, we may not be actually as available to support that person who is in that crisis or in that distress.

Suanne Wong (23:02)
Thank

Exactly. And it's also additionally important to repair any relationship breakdowns that may have happened during the course of seeking help and supporting somebody. So a lot of misunderstandings can happen when both sides are not in the right state of mind.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (23:38)
And this isn't one of the questions, but I think it's really important. Like, what are some of the structures? What are some of the resources that family can access? I know we've spoken much before about interventionists. Like, what are some of the different things that people can tap into when they do have a family member or a loved one who's going through it?

Suanne Wong (24:02)
Absolutely interventionists. There are a number that we work with who really work closely with the families and loved ones and really hit home that point of them taking care of themselves as well. also, you know, just seeking a therapist, a counselor, psychologist locally as well to you.

There are also lot of peer support groups at EHN Canada. All of our programs also include a family support component to any individual who's coming into treatment with us and limit the number of their loved ones can certainly engage in our programming. And then I know in certain cities and provinces around the country, there are also navigation teams and family navigation.

at teams that are able to connect individuals with resources that can really help support them in their time of need.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (24:58)
And I think we normally go to Google as sort of a, and I might be dating myself, we can go to chat GPT or any of those and like ask like, how do I do this? How do I navigate it? And it's a great, you know, first thing to research and take a look at, but it sounds like there's all of these different resources that are very enmeshed and are able to help us navigate, especially when we're going through something or a family member or a loved one is going through it.

Suanne Wong (25:01)
Mm

Yeah.

Mm

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (25:25)
It's okay to ask for that support. It's okay to ask for that help because it's that time to do it. Before we get into our last question, Sueann, I would love if you could tell the listeners where they can find you, share a little bit about what you've been working on these days. Obviously lots and lots of things. Yeah, would love to hear.

Suanne Wong (25:31)
Yeah.

Yes, yes. So currently, I'm really working on building more partnerships, particularly in the healthcare and government space, so that we can continue to get more care to more people who need it. You know, our vision really is that one day care is truly accessible, affordable and excellent for all Canadians. And that means

that is accessible at the point of care as in paid for by a third party, whether that's a company, an insurer or a government. And the more partnerships we've built, the more of our partners who understand our vision and the vision of really tackling the problem in multiple areas, not just treatment, but also prevention, interventions, harm reduction, all the way to really looking at

full social determinants of health and really, really tackling the whole picture and really helping

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (26:51)
Love that. So

connect with her on LinkedIn.

like going to ehncanada .com and reaching out with an inquiry. We're all here to support, but especially Sue Ann. Are you ready for our last question? We've rounded the corner. We've made it. Amazing, amazing.

So, and I think you started to touch on this in some of the things that you're working on. So I think it's a perfect fit for our last question today, which is looking ahead, what do you envision for the future of mental health care in terms of accessibility, the different options? What do you see from your circle and from your perspective?

Suanne Wong (27:31)
That's a great question. Ideally, we are seeing an expansion of services and investing in the right levels of care for individuals. We've been talking about how there are different levels appropriate for what place in your struggles you currently are. And I think there still continues to be

you know, insufficient investment in all the levels of care that individuals are going to need. So we don't just need one -on -one individual counseling and we don't just need ERs and hospitals and detox centers to take care of the acute problem. We also need outpatient programs. We need day programs. We need intensive outpatient programs. We need longer term

inpatient treatments for those who really do need the 24 -7 care and support to get them on a path to recovery. So there are really multiple aspects to the solution that it's important to look at and invest in and to make sure that we're truly providing full wraparound services to a population that is in

very vulnerable and very much in need of a warm helping hand.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (28:58)
I love that. I think too, like, you know, the buzz term, one size doesn't fit all. But I think we need to look at, like, what is a spectrum? A spectrum has a million points on it. And if one size truly doesn't fit all, there needs to be a whole variety and a whole system of services that supports people going through all of the different things. If we can think of even like 10 people in our own life who are, who have or are.

Suanne Wong (29:20)
Thank you.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (29:25)
going through something, they're all very unique and that's just 10 of them. There's 40 million Canadians going through lots of things and lots of people in the world who are going through it and it's sort of up to us and I think EHN is really great at this of like being at the forefront of discovering and testing and learning all of the different things that we can do to support that many individuals.

Suanne Wong (29:49)
Right, exactly, exactly like you said. And, you know, we're very much entrenched in the treatment space and we're continually expanding our programs and what we are able to offer so that we can meet clients where they are. But absolutely, there are so many other pieces to that puzzle and that's also why partnerships are so important to us because, you know, we really are only one piece of that larger puzzle. We also need

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (30:13)
Right.

Suanne Wong (30:18)
partners who can support clients before they get to us and clients after they leave our care. Housing is important. Employment. Reconnecting with the community. There are so many interesting and important crucial components to really finding the right solution to the crisis that we're currently in.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (30:46)
Sujan, this has been fantastic. Thank you so much for being on the show. It's been an absolute honor and pleasure to have you here. If you were to leave the listeners with one piece of advice or thought around starting their own journey with their mental health, what would you tell them?

Suanne Wong (30:49)
Thank

I would say be brave, be brave and ask for help. Find someone you trust, whether that is someone you know, who's close to you within your social circle, within your family, or it's a therapist, a counselor, a mental health professional. You know, we mentioned that first step can be the absolute hardest, but it is so important.

that first step to really get you into a better place and to get you the help you need. So yes, be brave. Just take that first step.

Jonathan Friedman (He/Him) (31:38)
I love that. love that. Thank you again, Sueann, for joining us on the show and sharing your wisdom and just all of the things.

recovery is possible and EHN Canada is the place for both virtual and inpatient treatment programs for mental health and addiction. To learn more about EHN Canada and how you can begin your own recovery journey, please go to ehncanada .com.

Listen to even more episodes of the Five FAQs Podcast. You can check it out on your favorite streaming platform. Zouan, thank you so much and we'll see you all next time.