‘Ottawa’ New Royal Ottawa Program to Tackle Addictions and Mental Health Disorders
Finding treatment can mean a cruel choice for those who need help with both mental illness and addiction.
“We put them in a bind,” says Dr. Raj Bhatla, chief of psychiatry at The Royal Ottawa Hospital. “They have to make a choice. Do they get treatment for, say, their anxiety disorder, then for their addiction, or do they treat the addiction first and leave their mental illness?
“It’s completely unfair.”
Improving treatment for such patients is the goal of a major revamp of addiction treatment at The Royal. Its new Substance Use and Concurrent Disorder Program will treat alcohol and substance abuse problems and at the same time offer clinical treatment and other therapies for mental disorders. It includes a 12-bed inpatient unit for the most severe cases.