3531-98702-2-A — ROBERTSON, Murray

BC Mental Health & Addiction Services
Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission
70 Colony Farm Road, Coquitlam, BC V3C 5×9

08/11/2017 1710714

The Presiding Judge
Provincial Court of British Columbia
Port Coquitlam, BC

Your Honour,

Re: BERLADYN, DANIEL
MRN: 3296654
Date of Birth: 12/11/1975
Order Date: 1 November 2017
File: 98702-2-A
Remand Date: 7 November 2017

GENERAL NARRATIVE

This report has been prepared at the request of the Provincial Court of British Columbia at Port Coquitlam. On November 1, 2017 the Court ordered that a fitness assessment be done on Mr. Berladyn. Mr. Berladyn has been charged with two counts of Failure to Comply with the Condition of Undertaking or Recognizance contrary to Section 145(3) of the Criminal Code with are alleged to have occurred on or about October 31st, 2017, at or near Port Moody, British Columbia. This report has been prepared for Mr. Berladyn’s upcoming court appearance on November 7, 2017. Mr. Berladyn was informed of the non-confidential nature of the assessment including that I would be preparing this report to Court. He acknowledges an understanding of this.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

1. Accompanying Court Documents.
2. Mr. Berladyn’s medical chart and staff observations.
3. Referral Information including report to Crown Counsel.
4. Previous overnight fitness assessments.
5. Note of the admitting physician Dr. Widajewicz.
6. Direct examination of Mr. Berladyn.
7. Collateral Information from sources as outlined below.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The referral information indicated that it was unclear if he was fit to stand trial and it was unclear what diagnosis he had and his ability to comply with that court order

The police report indicated that on October 31, a Woman called police to say that Mr. Berladyn was at his mother’s residence and breaching his No-Go condition. Constables arrived and observed him standing on the front steps talking to his mother. He was placed under arrest. It was noted in the file materials that he been charged with mischief from August 27, 2017, and had conditions not to attend within a block of his mother. It was noted that the call taker from 911 heard a man yelling which the call taker presumed was Mr. Berladyn yelling at this mother. When arrested, he indicated that he had shown up at her home because he had no money and no place to stay. When arriving at the Port Moody cells, he named a lawyer and asked to speak with him and apparently did speak with a lawyer.

RECORDS FROM LIONS GATE HOSPITAL

He was seen that the hospital on February 24, 2018. It was noted he had recently been discharged from Royal Columbian Hospital recently evicted from his family home and was now living in a trailer in Port Coquitlam. He voiced suicidal ideation in a Face book post. The police were alerted and he was brought from work under Section 29 of the Mental Health Act.

It was noted that he had a 20-year history of difficulties within his family and things have been coming to a head somewhat recently. He was evicted from his mother’s home in November and he felt that this was unfair because he was the main financial support. He faced a charge of mischief. He recently had to move into a trailer in which the electricity just failed. He had a longstanding history of sibling rivalry which persisted to this day and had been a constant source of pressure and frustration for him. Work was a positive thing for him. The pressures that he was dealing with led to the Facebook post. He indicated that he was not suicidal when in the hospital but he could thing about it the next five years. He reported to have a bout of genuine suicidal ideation in October of 2013. He indicated he was just discharged from the Tri-Cities Mental Heath Team the day before because a psychologist told him he was not crazy enough. It was noted that he was at the Royal Columbian Hospital after a one week inpatient stay under the Mental Health Act to rule out bipolar disorder. He did attempted to seek out mental health services in November 2015 through Fraser Health but nothing came of it.

It was noted that he was a third of four children and had a lifelong sibling rivalry which persisted to this day. He reported that he was the black sheep of the family but also he was the only sibling who supported his father in his decline to alcoholism, stayed in the family home and supported his mother. At some point, he was no longer able to support his mother financial and he was asked to leave. He was arrested upon discharge from the Royal Columbian Hospital. He nearly had to declare bankruptcy about two years before. It was noted that his thought forms were mildly circumstantial to tangential, but he could make a coherent narrative with some redirection. The impression was adjustment disorder with minded disturbance of mood and conduct and stressors were noted a significant difficulty. He was discharged.

COLLATERAL INFORMATION FROM THE NORTH FRASER PRETRIAL CENTRE

The first notes from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre began on September 15, 2017. It was noted that he was very suspicious and hesitant to answer any questions from the mental health screener. He reported being distrustful of women, the system and any mental health professionals as this had led him to jail in the past. He had symptoms relevant with paranoia. He had odd thought content and would not answer any questions. He asked to have the door closed. He was resistant to putting information on the computer. He was polite and oriented but reported feeling suicidal. He denied thoughts of hurting others. He denied drug use.

On September 16, he denied being suicidal. He said “I hate all you fuckers, the system is failing me but it is all my problem and my fault” when he was talking with the registered psychiatric nurse. He was angry about his situation and blaming everything on the system.

On September 17, he reported that the whole system was a joke. He reported that he never said he was going to hurt himself. He reported that he had some scan and they saw something in him.

On September 18, he reported that he system was stacking up against him.

On September 19, he reported feeling fine and was cooperative. On September 20, he told a lengthy story about “however and out there keeps fucking me around”. He indicated that the police and his family were part of it. He said that the sisters all thought he was crazy and the fucking doctors kept making shit up about his mental health and his lawyer was a fucking asshole”. He said he was arrested for no reason. He denied suicidal thoughts in jail but said he wold commit suicide in front of the police station because he was so mad the at the police officers who where trying to ruin his life. He would not speak about this mental health history because he said that the mental health coordinator would use it against him like his sisters do.

On September 21, he denied suicidal ideation. He felt that he was shafted, being in jail, and that “they” had only put him in there to shut him up.

On September 22, he refused to come to health care. On September 25, he was untrusting, guarded and paranoid about medical personnel, Psychiatry and Psychology and didn’t agree to see a psychiatrist or psychologist. There is a gap in notes between September 26 and October 13 when he was seen by the psychologist. He told the psychologist that “they” were murdering him right now by having him in jail. He thought he was in for a psychiatric evaluation. He said that the whole system as corrupt and he didn’t trust psychologists and psychiatrists. He said he had seen a psychiatrist and may decline to speak with him. The psychiatrist told him that would end up moving to Colony Farms or sent to a hospital. He said many times that everyone was corrupt. Just because people had more education, didn’t meant that they were more intelligent than him. He had resentment at having taken Venlafaxine and Olanzapine for eight years because he believed he was railroaded. He was concerned about being certified and/or confined to a mental institution. He was upset that he could no access computer to put down his view of what had been happening to him. He had a blog that he previous posted online. He had difficulty remaining on topic and purely digressed to speak about this his trust of the system and his belief that mental health professionals were corrupt and not seeing the real truth, which could see. He had a considerable anger and hostility but he wasn’t venting them directly at the psychologist although came close. The psychologist noted that paranoid and grandiose themes were evident. There had been a gap since he was seen on November 1 when it was noted that he was easily agitated and tearful. He was minimally polite and cooperative through the interview screening process. He denied thoughts to harm to himself or others. He indicated that he was not interested in seeing any mental health professionals while in jail.

PHARMANET MEDICATION PROFILE

This (Pharmanet) indicates that he had been prescribed Olanzapine 10mg in October 2016 by a physician who works at the Royal Columbian Hospital. There were no further prescriptions.

FITNESS ASSESSMENT FROM DR. KOLCHAK DATED OCTOBER 15, 2017

Mr. Berladyn indicated to Dr. Kolchak that he was currently homeless and had no lawyer at the time. He launched into a discussion of topics that were difficult to understand. He claimed that he would “rather do it in front of this whole world, the system murdered me”. He reported that he stem had taken his things like his home, his livelihood and his finances. He reported that he was urgently thrown out of his home on false pretenses that he was a threat. He believed multiple people were involved. He believed they should be in the hospital to have access to a laptop and access to the internet.

He recorded that he was forced to be involved with Psychiatry and was last admitted to the Royal Columbian Hospital in October 2016. He stayed for 48 hours. He reported that he had seen 15 psychiatrists in the past. He reported that psychiatric care was trying to undermine his confidence and he was trying to show mistakes in the system. He reported that he was forced to be unbalanced. He indicated that the system was railroading him. He said that Crown Counsel lied and the system was corrupt. He believed the Court represented an unbalanced system. He refused to answer further questions about fitness and claimed that the psychiatrist was fucked and part the corrupted system. He said the whole system was bullshit and corrupt. He became angry and claimed the that the system lied and misrepresented. He said that he wanted to see a psychologist to correlate things. He was irritable and angry with an intense stare. Dr. Kolchak was unclear of the diagnosis and noted that he was difficult to interrupt and his speed was rapid and voluminous. He appeared to be delusional but could have been over-valued ideas. Dr. Kolchak believed that he suffered from at least some symptoms of mental illness but he was unsure the diagnosis. He thought that Mr. Berladyn might have difficult communicating his wishes either to his lawyer or to participate in Court, but he might be able to participate in the Court process after all.

FITNESS ASSESSMENT FROM DR. LEVY DATED SEPTEMBER 18, 2017

Dr. Levy indicated that Mr. Berladyn indicated past outpatient and hospital psychiatric contact. He had taken anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medication in the past but didn’t think it helped him. He was last briefly admitted in 2016. He was not interested in further psychiatric followup. It was noted that he was talkative and over-inclusive but not markedly disorganized. He had paranoid ideation but no frank delusions. He denied currently suicidal ideation. He thought that he was

Dr. Levy did not think that he was at acute risk. He was uncertain of the diagnosis. Further outpatient assessment was recommended. Dr. Levy thought he was fit for court. He noted that he was able to be aware of the circumstances of his arrest, the charge, the pleas, the roles of the court participants and although he was over-inclusive, Dr. Levy thought he could communicate with counsel.

REPORT TO CROWN COUNSEL FROM AUGUST 2017 CHARGE

The police report indicated that on August 27, at about 8 in the evening, a woman called police to report that Mr. Berladyn was at his mother’s residence. He was bound by conditions of a Section 810 Peace Bond application not to contact her or attend her residence. It was noted that on that date, he attended to her residence and unleaded a large amount of drywall tools and equipment into her yard and his mother hand not provided him with permission to do so. It was noted that his mental health issues were believed to be a driving factor in his specific investigation as well as his previous police contacts and police reporting a criminal charge of mischief against him. It also recommended a Roger’s order if he had bail conditions.

It was noted that on or about July 22, 2016, a trial had been held for him in relation to the Section 810 Peace Bond application. The Constable believed that there was reasonable grounds to believe that he posed an ongoing safety risk to members of his family and it was exacerbated by undiagnosed mental health issues. It was also noted that on April 5, 2017, a Section 111 Firearms Prohibition application was made. He failed to appear and the Courts granted a 5 year firearms prohibition against him. It was noted that he had made some suicidal remarks to a social worker and the Coquitlam RCMP were eventually able to locate him and deemed him not apprehendable under Section 28.

It was noted that on February 16, 2016, the Constable had spoken with Tri City’s Mental Health who advised that a psychiatrist was in the process of certifying him., He left the facility before police arrived. On February 24, 2016, it was noted that his mother called to advice that he had recent sent a possibly suicidal message to another family member via Facebook. He was found in North Vancouver and the RCMP brought him to the hospital.

On March 28, 2016, Mr. Berladyn called the police to help him retrieve some belongings from his mother’s residence which he did along with the assistance of a friend.

On October 15, 2016, Mr. Berladyn’s cousin called for assistance to remove him from his residence. He did not pay rent and he needed to be removed due to volatile behaviour. The cousin had asked him to leave the residence out of this result in confrontation. He also received text messages from Mr. Berladyn including being “don’t bother, I’ll be dead you stupid Fuck”. Mr. Berladyn later showed up at the Coquitlam RCMP detachment expressing needing help to get back on his feet due to financial difficulties. A Coquitlam RCMP member noted that he could not articulate himself and at times was not making sense. He was apprehended under Section 28 of the Mental Health Act and transported to hospital.

On October 29, 2016, he called the RCMP to request that police attend his residence to stand by and keep the peace while he retrieved some of his tools. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant. On October 31, 2016, he again requested assistance from police to retrieve some tools from his cousin’s home.

On November 1, 2016, a man called the RCMP to report that Mr. Berladyn had threatened to beat him up on October 28. This man had been living with Mr. Berladyn’s cousin and Mr. Berladyn had now moved across the street. There was an argument over their shared parking space on October 28. Mr. Berladyn told him that if he didn’t move his vehicle, he would beat him up. The man had recently moved from the residence and did not want to pursue Charges.

On November 22, Mr. Berladyn attended the RCMP to provide information about an incident he was involved in. He indicated that he was of a curious mind and did multiple internet searches on Craig’s list for jobs, housing, friendship and items for sale. He indicated he was recently contacted by a Woman who wanted to meet up with him. The woman eventually said that she was 14 years old, at which point he said he was not interested but the conversation between them continued. After the conversation, he went to Denny’s, which he was a regular at and the woman was inclined to go there and while he sat in the restaurant, a group similar to the Surrey Creep Catchers walked in with cameras saying they would be making his face known on the internet. He was insistent that he was not luring anyone and did not have any interest in anyone under the age of 30 and he was trying to help guide the female in the proper direction.

On January 15, 2017, the Coquitlam RCMP received a call indicating they should check into his mental well being. The person calling indicated that Mr. Berladyn seemed to be sliding into a psychotic break and referenced his web site. The Coquitlam RCMP contacted him and made arrangements to meet with him at a Starbucks Coffee Shop. He expressed in lengthy statements the concerns he held regarding the court system and straightening his life out and back to order.

On January 18, 2017, he asked for assistance removing belongings from his cousins residence. It was noted that his property had been removed from the residence and placed in the back alley and under the patio. They suffered water damage and Mr. Berladyn estimated that there was approximately $8000 worth of damage.

On January 22, he asked again for assistance in collecting his belongings from his cousin’s place.

On January 20, 2017, Mr. Berladyn attended the Pitt Meadows Community RCMP office and had a brief conversation. Mr. Berladyn was noted to ask vague, nonsensical questions pertaining to his personal issues. Mr. Berladyn was having difficulty articulating what he was trying to say and was apologetic for not being able to explain himself. He felt that the “Country Canada” was doing surveillance/spying on him.

On January 23, he attended again and asked questions about perjury and who would investigate it. He was making little sense as he would not elaborate further. He spent 20 minutes explaining the many problems he had gone through in his life. He acted paranoid and blamed all others in his life for the problems saying that he knew what he wanted to get to but every time he tried to get help they put him off track. He reported that he had been to 13 different psychiatrists and every one of them was crazy. He talked about being illegally incarcerated at the Royal Columbian Hospital after being arrested under the Mental Health Act. When asked what the police could do for him he apologized for wasting time and explained that he forgot what he wanted to ask and he was having trouble articulating what he wanted.

On April 5, 2017, Tri Cities Mental Health called to indicated that Mr. Berladyn had said to a staff member that he would rather just jump off a bridge. Mr. Berladyn indicated that he had a lot going on personally and emotionally in life. He had gotten upset and made a vague comment but had no intent of conducting such action. He was stressed out from a court date and he indicated his physical health has deteriorated.

At interview between a Constable and Mr. Berladyn’s mother, from August 29, 2017, indicated that on August 23, he had come to her home. He spoke about how she had murdered him. He said that she had ruined his life and lied in court. He said he was going to commit suicide and there was no alternative. He later returned to her residence and left after she tried to speak with him. He had dropped off 9 or 10, 5-gallon buckets of drywall product, drywall tape, tools and articles of clothing. There were a number of tool boxes as well.. Mr. Berladyn had apparently recorded the initial conversation with his mother. The transcript was included. He accused his mother of killing his father emotionally and committing fraud.

OVERNIGHT FITNESS ASSESSMENT DATED SEPTEMBER 15, 2017

I saw Mr. Berladyn for an over night fitness assessment on September 15, I indicated issues related to confidentiality and the nature of the assessment and he declined to participate and turned off the camera.

REPORT OF DR. STANGELAND, PSYCHOLOGIST, DATED FEBRUARY 21, 2017

His (Dr. Stangeland) report indicated that he did not accept the fear of injury allegation and felt it was peculiar. He decided that if he lost the case, he would disavow the Crown and thereby remove the Judge’s authority over him. He felt that the Judge tried to put him in psychiatric care. He was put on probation. The probation office wanted him to attend Tri-Cities Mental Health and he did not want to. He preferred at the time to see Forensics and pushed for this. He felt that his life was disintegrating at the time. He felt that he was supposed to to get help at Probation and felt that he was standing up against the system by doing so. He felt that his livelihood was being destroyed, he had no money and his circumstances forced him to be self-employed. He did not have the resources to sell himself and get work however, it was noted that he had been staying at his cousin’s house initially and there were 4 other men staying there, who were abusing substances. His sleep was disturbed by late night partying and this included the night before scheduled Probation appointment that he missed. He became more stressed prior to the appointment and lost all the energy and collapsed on the couch and felt that he was so drained that he couldn’t have gone to the appointment if he had wanted to.

He was sent to the Royal Columbian Hospital were he was seen by a psychiatrist. He found it insulting that the psychiatrist and three young students had come to assess him. Despite the face that he volunteered to stay at the hospital, he was strapped into his bed. He managed to be released after 2 days and then found a house to rent for $160 per month. This was around the end of October 2016. The house was across the street from his cousin’s place. He called the police when he saw his cousin throwing out his possessions but was arrested on a warrant for missing his probation appointment. He believes that his cousin spoke to the home owner of the place he was staying and resulted in him being asked to leave the residence here.

His cousin left all his valuable tools and possessions in the weather. He was being pursued by creditors in this time as well. When his tenancy expired he had problems finding another place and was able to eventually find a room in a house to rent for $750. He felt that this affected his ability to earn a livelihood because he had no place to use as a workshop or to store his tools. He was concerned that his tools were being damaged at his cousin’s home.

Being dislodged from his mother’s home, resulted in him being unable to maintain gainful employment and caused him considerable financial distress. He felt the allegations made against him in the peace bond application were false and were motivated by efforts by his siblings to remove him from the situation for his own personal gain.

It was noted that he was born in Vancouver and grew up in Port Moody with his parents. His father died in 2005. His family came to Canada from the region around the border of Poland and Ukraine. His father was involved in the family manufacturing business in the 1970’s but it went bankrupt. His father worked for a truck sales and mechanical business recession of 1983 and had struggled and then failed around 1991 and then his father worked selling trucks and trailers in Canada and selling them in the United States for higher amounts. Mr. Berladyn looked up to his father, even though he was often working and out of the home. His father developed difficulties with alcohol as he had more problems with his business. At the time he was 7 or 8, his father had significant difficulties with alcohol. Between the ages of 8 to 12, Mr. Berladyn was still going to work with his father or travelling with him on trips.

Mr. Berladyn felt that his brothers laughed at his father which created animosity between Mr. Berladyn and his brothers. He said that his neighbours and his mother were saying that his father was no good and his mother said he was no good because he was like his father. His father developed jaundice at the ago of 40 and died at the age of 59 after a hospitalization which included a coma. His father was not abusive.

His mother left her then husband, to marry his father in 1968 and his parents had a good life until 1982 or 1983. He felt that he was favoured by his mother until the age of 4 or 5 when he refused to wear clothes that she wanted him to wear at Christmas as and then afterwards, his older brother became her favourite. As he grew up, his mother was no longer supportive and was more critical.

Mr. Berladyn felt that his siblings negatively influenced his relationship with his mother. He felt that his mother had some personality difficulties but no addictions or mental health diagnosis’s. It was noted that Mr. Berladyn’s older brother lived in Maple Ridge and worked as an Instructor at BCIT. He had bouts of depression. He felt that his older brother undermined others to get what he wanted.

His second oldest brother was single and had no children. He worked for BCIT as a maintenance person. He had difficulties with Cocaine in the past and now smoked Marijuana and drank beer. He had problems with depression.

He had a younger sister who lived in Coquitlam and worked in accounting and insurance and was separated with 2 children. She smoked Marijuana and drank socially. They were very close but she apparently took something from her so he had to remove her from his life.

Mr. Berladyn noted that he was attached to the house when he was young and it was always on the verge of being lost because of his father’s financial problems. By the age of 18, Mr. Berladyn had high levels of anxiety about ending up like his father. He felt like he was watching his father drink himself to death. At 17 he started working with a tradesman who was like a father figure. He planned to save money and then buy house but he ended up helping his parents as well. Mr. Berladyn continued to work and also fix up the house. His brother’s didn’t help. There was conflict with siblings over who would inherit how much of the house. His mother would apparently be critical and negative towards him and at other times make promises that if he kept on fixing up the house he would inherit it. He had reported that he had always paid money to his mother to help with the finances beyond what would be expected for room and board payment. He believes that his sister wants to have the house as does his brother and he thought that his sister wanted him removed from the home so that she and her husband could move in and renovate it. Mr. Berladyn maintained that he had been the one supporting and feeding his mother.

In terms of education, he failed grade 11 English. Around the age of 29 he did the GED Program and got his Dogwood Diploma. He reported being quiet, nervous and introverted. There was an instance when he was asked to expose himself to an older man and there was mutual exposure with a mentally handicapped person which his older brother told all the neighbourhood about. Mr. Berladyn was persistently teased about this and it caused him to withdraw from his peers. He began opening up a bit more when he was in grade 8. He reported that he did reasonably well in school and didn’t have learning problems. He did well in math, science and shop courses. He began smoking Marijuana in grade 9, which affected his concentration.

In terms of work, he started working as a drywall finishing apprentice at the age of 17, and he worked steadily more than full-time hours. He worked as a sub-contractor but then got into the union. He left the union eventually and by the time of the report he was doing contracting drywall work. The legal proceedings had been impeding his ability to work including that his tools were sitting outside of his cousin’s and rusting. He felt abused by the system and that the probation conditions were and endless burden. He was barely working because he felt highly stressed and had difficulty focusing on his job. He wanted all of his assets returned and he wanted a place to be able to work out of in order to be productive. He felt that there were 3 conditions necessary to re-stabilize his life. He firstly didn’t want people to interfere with how he went about this process. He felt his family home was the best place for him to do it, but he could see that this would be a problem. He needed financial injections to get back on his feet. He felt that all of the biased and incorrect information needed to be corrected. He thought that he had lost between $120,000 and $150,000 in the last 6 months and his truck was subject to seizure. He said that he would commit suicide if his truck was taken from him. He reported that he was well liked and organized at work and he was a thinker and a planner with very high standards. He could be critical of employees who where slow or who had less skills than he did.

He reported that he had plenty of girlfriends and had lived with some women, but had never been married and had no children.

He felt that he may have COPD because of exposure to drywall dust at work. He had lots of stress. A man once punched him in the back of the head and he saw stars, but he didn’t lose consciousness.

In terms of mental health he reported that he took his fathers death in 2005 very hard. People he was riding to work with suggested that he see a psychologist and he saw Dr. James who thought he was Bipolar and wanted him on medication. Mr. Berladyn was resistant to this. Around this time, his grandmother died, his girlfriend left and his dog passed away and he lost his truck. His family physician put him on Olanzapine and Venlafaxine. He gained 20 to 30 points and had lots of side effects but took the medications for 8 years. Hos brother apparently through that he had Bipolar Disorder. He finally stopped taking them.

He indicated that he had gone to the hospital emergency department 4 times in the year prior to the report being written. He was apparently kept for a week in the hospital initially.

In terms of suicide attempts, he reported that he had stood on a high rise tower wanting to jump a number of times. He had lots of suicidal thoughts about or tried a number of ways of committing suicide. At one point he tired to induce a heart attack by heavily smoking cheap Indian cigarettes. He had thoughts of touching the poles on his electrical panel, jumping from Lions Gate Bridge and other methods. He eventually came out of it.

He didn’t consider himself to be depressed and rated his mood as 6/10. His sleep was terrible because he had just moved into a new place and was sleeping on a mattress. His appetite was fine, but was restricted by his budget. His energy was usually good. He denied symptoms consistent with a manic episode. he denied problems consistent with a specific Anxiety Disorder. He felt that he was quick to get angry if he sensed lying, cheating or dishonesty, but he was never physically aggressive. He indicated that the only time he was aggressive was in 2019, when he took his mother lightly by the wrist. He yelled at her, 8 years ago, when he was working 6 days a week and he felt that she was being manipulated by her family. He felt that the version of events that she presented to the police was structured to make him look bad. His sister had apparently made allegations that he had grabber her by the throat, but he said this was untrue. He felt that the family was trying to get rid of him and he said that there were sick interpersonal dynamics in the family. He said that he had gone to counseling and tried to work with police and doctors, but he was quick to become intense when he was subject to coercion because of the way his family had treated him.

In terms of substance use, at the age of 14, he consumed so much alcohol that he had alcohol poisoning, but after that he didn’t touch it for 3 years. Drinking was never a problem for him. He started smoking Marijuana around grade 9 and by the end of the high school he was smoking about an 1/8th of an ounce of Marijuana per day with his girlfriend. At the age of 18, or 19, he got away from using Marijuana and denied recent use. He had tried Cocaine about 5 times in his life.

Dr. Stangeland worked with a psychological assistant, who did some testing with Mr. Berladyn. Unfortunately, Mr. Berladyn did no complete the testing as requested.

Dr. Stangeland a diagnostic impression was that he had an adjustment reaction with anxiety and depression as a result of his stressors. The main impression was that he had a Paranoid Personality Disorder. He scored low on his psychopathy check-list. An HCR-20 was done with showed difficulties with relationships and employment as well as personality traits and difficulties with supervision and insight. He had difficulties with housing on a personal support and professional support. Dr. Stangeland assessment was that he presented a low to low moderate level of risk of violence towards others. His circumstances were distressing because he felt that he had be victimized by his family through the court and this emotional agitation implied a risk for violence. However, Mr. Berladyn denied thoughts of hurting others. He said he would be more likely to harm himself than others.

REPORT OF MR. BERLADYN

Mr. Berladyn said that he was living in a hotel that ad been paid for a good friend. he did not want to burden his friend who had said he would provide the hotel for about to a month and therefore only stayed there for a weak and a couple of days. He was living in his truck otherwise. Prior to that he was in a jail, prior to that he was living in his truck and prior to that he was renting a room, He said that if he was discharged today, he was not sure where he would live. He could live in his truck or he could look for a shelter. He indicated that it was his preference to return to live in the home his mother was living in. He indicated that the two floors were self contained and separated and he could movie into the bottom floor. He indicated that he had a number of financial concerns including that his insurance would be up for renewal shortly and that he would have to have $3000 to renew it in January, which he did not think would happen. He said that is was a 6 litre engine and took a lot of gas which was expensive. Mr. Berladyn had not worked regularly since February of 2016 and blamed this on being evicted from the family home. He emphasized that being in the family home was important for him to be able to function well and to work because it would allow him a place to store his tools and equipment.

I told Mr. Berladyn that had reviewed the report of Dr. Stangeland and he indicated that for the most part it was okay, but it did contain some inaccuracies. He reiterated some of the contents of the report.

Mr. Berladyn said that he did not like being in the hospital or on medications, but it was better than being on the street or starving. He said that he had been sleeping in his usual amount which was more than 6 hours per night and he had been eating too much since being on the Olanzapine. He denied auditory or visual hallucinations and denied paranoia. He denied current suicidal ideation but he said that he felt the system was pushing him, it destroyed his life and he could not recover. He denied thoughts of hurting others. He said he did not want to be institutionalized.

He told me a bit about his work. He said that he was making up to $60 an hour working for companies doing drywall work. He was known as someone who do among the best work in terms of drywall in town by some of the largest companies in town. He said that he would have difficulties returning to work because he would need some money in order of $5000 to $10,000 to be able to get back on his feet so he could start working again and he also didn’t have any credit and hadn’t paid for his truck in two years. he felt like he had been murdered and he felt that he had been smashed to the ground since his siblings convinced his mother to evict him in February of 2016. He said that he would consider getting on some form of social assistance and also would like to have the conditions preventing him from returning home or speaking with his mother lifted.

In terms of review of his mental health symptoms, he said that either than gong to 61 1/2 hours after being released from jail the last time when he had no place to say and was not sleeping in general, he had not had times where he had not had very much sleep still a lot of energy and been doing a lot of things as would be typical of manic episode. At times he might stay up a lot later not sleep if he had too much coffee.

He said that despite all the difficulties in stressful situations he had been going through recently, he did not feel that he was depressed because he had not allowed himself to be depressed. He also felt that eh was abler to not be completely preoccupied by the stressors that he was going through and was able to push it to the side at times. He would generally relax by going and visiting with friends. He said that his concentration had focus had not been the best lately. He has always had difficulties articulating things verbally since childhood. He feels that he is very good at both writing it all out on the computer.

His only actual attempt at suicide was in 2013 or 2014 as described in Dr. Stangeland’s report. He denied current thoughts of hurting or killing himself or others. Including his siblings or mother.

When he was on the Olanzapine and the Venlafaxine in the past, he felt that it was more a placebo effect. He almost wondered if it made him worse because he was a bit more lazy and more careless and not as sharp. He said he gained weight.

He had some difficulties with obsessing over thing when he was younger and he liked having things ordered in a certain way. This didn’t cause problems in his day to day life aside from difficulties in setting goals. He did have a panic attack around the age of 20 or 21 when he thought he had a heart attack. He has not had a panic attack since. He did have difficulties with excess worry or anxiety in his teens and early 20’s. He wasn’t sure now he got better but through it might be related to work. He did not think that going on medications at the age of 28 helped with this and he thought instead that he had a natural mellowing.

RECORDS FROM TRI-CITY MENTAL HEALTH

The records do not contain much additional information beyond what it outlined above. They do indicate that he had trials of Lithium as well as low dose Risperidone. The diagnostic reasoning included the possibility of bipolar disorder, an adjustment disorder and a personality disorder.

COURSE IN HOSPITAL

1. Mr. Berladyn was admitted to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital on November 2, 2017, and seen by the admitting physician Dr. Widajewicz. Dr. Widajewicz had to terminate the interview early and he was placed in seclusion. Dr. Widajewicz certified him under the Mental Health Act and noted that he appeared manic and was escalating with an explosive temper, crying, pressured, very emotional and required involuntary treatment.
2. I first saw Mr. Berladyn on November 3, 2017. He was swearing profusely throughout the interview and it was extremely difficult to keep him on any topic. An attempt at a fitness assessment was completely unsuccessful. he had been Zuclopenthixol Acetate by injection by Dr. Widajewicz and also started on Olanzapine. I increased the Olanzapine.
3. Mr. Berladyn was managed in seclusion over the weekend. It was noted the he refused to engage with interviews with Dr. Stingu-Baxter over the weekend. He irritable and dismissive. He was released from seclusion and brought to the ward on November 5 and there were no issues on the ward.
4. I met with Mr. Berladyn on November 6, 2017, and went through the fitness assessment. He was generally co-operative with the interview. He became upset on a number of occasions especially when talking about his situation. He expressed a lot of frustration at times and swore including at me a couple of times. He speech was normal rate and rhythm but increased at volume at times. He was able to remain seated throughout. His mood was described as not being depressed. His effect for the most part was euthymic but he would become quickly irritable at times and appeared angry and frustrated at times. With regard to thought process for the most part he was organized. At times he would stop what he was saying and appeared to be difficulties trying to get his point across. He was much better able to focus on the topics and questions being asked of him than he was when I initially saw him on November 3. With regard to thought content he denied thoughts of hurting others. He indicated that he had occasional thoughts of suicide but had no intent or plan to end his life. He said that having excess of conditions placed upon him by the Courts would make him suicidal. With regard to perception he denied hallucinations and did not appear to be responding to internal stimuli. No behaviour suggestive of hallucinations was noted by the staff. He was alert and orientated. His insight and judgment were impaired.

DSM-5 DIAGNOSIS

1. It is very difficult to come to a firm diagnosis for Mr. Berladyn. In particular considering the time constraints of this assessment, but I am still missing some collateral information and that Mr. Berladyn does not present with the typical picture of someone with florid mania, psychosis, mood or anxiety difficulties.
2. In old people with severe and persistent mental illness such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia for example, certain symptoms and presentations make it fairly obvious that the disorder is present. Mr. Berladyn has not presented as clearly floridly manic but a number of his symptoms such as irritability, pressured speech, initially and difficulties in organizing his thoughts are symptoms of mania. As well, while he had had a number of paranoid and persecutory ideas, the degree of these beliefs is not consistent with the delusional beliefs usually seen in an illness such a schizophrenia.
3. In looking at the records of the various psychiatrists who have accessed him, similar difficulties have risen in arriving at an appropriate diagnosis for Mr. Berladyn.
4. Dr. Stangeland diagnosed him as having a paranoid personality disorder, and I think this is a reasonable diagnostic consideration. He also has some features of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder which actually likely helped him in his work as a higher end drywaller. I would therefore say that he probably has a mixture of paranoid personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality trait.
5. On the differential diagnosis is that of a mood disorder such as bipolar disorder. He does not present with classic symptoms of a type I bipolar disorder. he does have difficulties in expressing his thoughts verbally and I am not sure if this is part of a thought disorder, difficulties with verbal expression that are longstanding or simply due to the stress and frustration he is going through. he has had difficulties with anxiety and again does not clearly present with symptoms consists with a specific disorder.
6. Therefore it is hard to come up with a specific diagnosis for Mr. Berladyn.

MEDICATION

1. Olanzapine 20mg at

   FITNESS ASSESSMENT

   Mr. Berladyn said that he was Charged with Mischief and Breach of Conditions. He said that he has lawyer and was willing to work with his lawyer. He said that the purpose of the court system was to “I would think instill justice but it does not feel that way”. I asked him how he was suppose to behave in Court and he said “Calm, respectful, especially towards the judge”. I asked him what would happen to someone if they were loud and disruptive in Court and he said he said they would be remanded. I asked him what the role of his lawyer was and he said it was to represent and speak for him. He said that the job of the Crown lawyer was to represent and speak for the Crown. He said the role of the Judge was to rule and to judge. I asked him what pleas where available and he said guilty and not guilty. He had a vague awareness of the NCRMD plea. I asked who decided whether he was guilty, not guilty, or NCRMD and he said it was the judge. I asked him what would happen if he was found guilty, what the judge would decide and he said that the Judge would decide how he would be punished. I asked him what the role of a witness was and he said that it was to help and to instill law and order. I asked him what the role of the psychiatrist was and he had some problems answering out, but he said that he released I had been asking a lot of questions and my job was to determine mental health and the way someone’s brain worked. I asked him what evidence was and he said it was hard indisputable facts in relation to the case. I asked him was Perjury was and he said lying in Court. I asked him what would happen if he was found not guilty and he said that the charges would be dissolved or dropped. I asked him what the maximum sentence was, if he was found guilty on the charges and he said that he had no idea. He said that he could ask his lawyer or the Judge on read a book about it.

   SUMMARY

   1. Mr. Berladyn is a 41 year old man with a longstanding history of interpersonal difficulties, especially in his family. He was treated for about eight years up until 2014 with a combination of Olanzapine and Venlafaxine. This may or many not have helped him with symptoms of anxiety and paranoia when he was taking it.
   2. In the last couple of years, Mr. Berladyn has had significant difficulties in psycho-social stressors including conflict with his family, unemployment, being kicked out of the family home, having finance difficulties, having difficulties obtaining or maintaining work and has now come into protracted difficulties with the legal system on relatively minor charges.
   3. In terms of his mental health in the hospital, initially he did present with symptoms of frustration and anger as well as difficulties in expressing his thoughts that my have been part of a hypo-mania or even mania. However he did not present with classical symptoms of a bipolar disorder and apparently had been sleeping okay. Also, the majority of his frustrations appear to be related to his real life situational difficulties as stressors.
   4. Either with time or with the medication he was given in the hospital these symptoms did appear to improve in this hospitalization, although he still is certainly frustrated and angry with this situation.
   5. Mr. Berladyn's diagnostic picture is quite challenging and this is reflected in some of the diagnostic uncertainty in relatively brief admissions in his psychiatric history.
   6. In terms of fitness to stand trial, Mr. Berladyn was able to articulate an understanding of the nature and object of the court proceedings, the possible consequences or outcomes and indicated a willingness to work with counsel to conduct his defense. From a clinical perspective, he would not meet criteria to be found unfit to stand trial.
   7. In terms of certification under the Mental Health Act, it is my belief that Mr. Berladyn could likely benefit in terms of his functioning and overall mental health with ongoing psychiatric treatment. He is in disagreement with this. However the certification under the Mental Health Act comes with specific criteria. If he were to remain certified, he would be incarcerated in a maximum secure facility at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital. He does not present as a being at acute risk of harm or himself or others and it also is unlikely that he would imminently deteriorate physically. While I did think that Dr. Widajewicz initial certification and treatment was appropriate especially given his need for seclusion and the upcoming court date, at this point, I don't feel that he would meet criteria for certification under the Mental Health Act criteria and he will be discharged to Court. He is at chronic risk of self-harm and/or suicide.
   8. I have explained to Mr. Berladyn that I believe he would benefit from follow up with mental health services in the community and that medication such as an anti-depressant in combination with an anti-psychotic, perhaps not the medications he was on previously as he did complain of side effects, would be beneficial to him. Mr. Berladyn indicated that he had no interest in pursuing medication treatment at this point. He also expressed that the requirements of following up with probation and mental health services in the community would be significantly disruptive to his life and also prevent him from obtaining and sustaining employment.
   9. Mr. Berladyn also indicated that he would be hoping that the conditions preventing him from being at his mother's home or even talking with his mother could be lifted. He really believes that returning home is the only way in which he can recover from his difficulties.

   RECOMMENDATIONS

   1. The Court may wish to find that Mr. Berladyn is fit to stand trial.
   2. With regard to his status under the Mental Health Act, Mr. Berladyn is not longer certified under the Mental Health Act and is being discharged to Court. He does not need to be returned to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital for this reason.
   3. In terms of conditions, Mr. Berladyn indicates that the conditions mandating that he followup regularly with mental health services would be disruptive to him. He indicates that he would be willing to followup with a psychiatrist online. I told him that there was a program available that could potentially allow him to do that and he seemed somewhat interested in pursuing this. However, given his history he many not follow up without mandated conditions to do so.

   Respectfully submitted.

   Electronically Signed by Christopher Murray Robertson, MD, FRCPC on 06/11/2017 17.07.14

   ___________________________________________
   Christopher Murray Robertson, MD, FRCPC

   CMR/LT
   Job#: 111223
   Doc#: 83072764
   D: 06/11/2017 13:49:35
   T: 06/11/2017 15:19:59

   This document has been dictated and accepted by the above author through an electronic authentication process.