Dr. Araba Chintoh

For Dr. Araba Chintoh, it’s the little things that count.

As a psychiatrist in CAMH’s schizophrenia program and the Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan Emergency Department, as well as a clinician-scientist with expertise in pharmacology, Dr. Chintoh sees just how quickly the little things can add up.

“I work with people who have treatment-resistant schizophrenia,” says Dr. Chintoh. “To a parent whose child is experiencing psychosis, the little things are everything. It’s a long, hard journey and I try to help them break it down into the day-to-day—finding glimmers of hope, no matter how small, wherever we can.”

Dr. Chintoh began her career at CAMH more than two decades ago, when she started volunteering as an undergraduate student. In the years since, she’s witnessed how easy it is for patients with schizophrenia—especially the one-third with a treatment-resistant form of the illness—to fall through the cracks. That’s why, in addition to her clinical and research duties, she often takes on an advocacy role when dealing with patients and families.

“The conversation that I have every day with families is that this illness talks. It has words,” says Dr. Chintoh. “We hear patients say things like, ‘I’m afraid of you. I don’t trust you.’ And family members take it personally, they think it’s a choice; they wish their loved one would just stop behaving the way they’re behaving. But they can’t—and they need support to get through it.”

“When patients have loved ones who refuse to give up on them, they have hope,” says Dr. Chintoh.

She wants those who are considering suicide to know there are even more places they can find hope. Dr. Chintoh says, while it might be scary, they need to talk about it with people they trust or seek professional mental health care.

“People come to think about suicide from a number of different places, perspectives and illnesses. Far too many feel like it’s the only option,” says Dr. Chintoh. “We can help them understand there are other options—that they can work through all the tomorrows ahead of them with support.”

Dr. Chintoh believes CAMH is the best place for those experiencing schizophrenia or other mental illnesses to find their tomorrows. 

“When people think of mental health, they think of CAMH. When they think of help, when they think of hope, they think of CAMH,” says Dr. Chintoh. “People come here—driving from all over—because we are seen as the caregivers of mental health in Ontario, in Canada.”

“CAMH is where people come for help—this is where they are. And if this is where they are, this is where the work needs to happen.”