Montreal nurse’s book sheds light on mental health and homelessness – CityNews Montreal

Do you know what nurses see every day beyond hospital walls? One Montreal nurse says those stories are often missed — and she decided to write them down.

Montrealer Vassiliki Stathopoulos is the author of “Beyond the Streets“, a book sharing real human stories from the front lines of health care, shining a light on mental health, homelessness, and gaps in care that often go unnoticed.

Early passion for vulnerable populations

From a young age, Stathopoulos was drawn to understanding people, especially those in vulnerable situations.

“I was always drawn to people, drawn to behavior, drawn to more vulnerable people,” she said. “From elementary school, I would always be drawn to the quieter kids. I really wanted to understand the actual human — what we are.”

Her curiosity and empathy eventually led her to nursing, a career that combined her fascination with human behavior with her love for anatomy, physiology, and biology.

“I chose nursing because I felt like it was the career that brought me closest to humans,” she said. “After my first semester, it was like I was meant to be there. So, I knew I had made the right decision.”

Frontline experiences spark a book

Her sense of purpose deepened once she began working in a downtown Montreal hospital, where she saw homelessness and mental health challenges up close.

“From the very beginning — my first few patients — I really was struck by the reality of the world,” she said. “Before I entered the field, I was kind of living in a bubble.”

One moment, in particular, inspired her to write the book.

“It kind of just struck me one day when I was walking here in McGill Metro, and I saw a homeless person who had passed away,” she said. “So, I attended to him. I had to call for help because I was alone. I had no material, I had nothing on me. Not even Narcan, which is a medication used to reverse the effects of opioids. It really struck me that day. I went home, and I was really distraught. I was like, ‘Okay, I need to do something about this.’ So, I thought putting it on paper and writing a book was the easiest way to put my thoughts into, you know, the world.”

The book, which took 14 months to write, was self-published.

“I had to format the book myself, I had to edit the book myself. I had to make the cover page myself,” she said. “It was a long, complicated process, especially since it was my first book.”

Unexpected bestseller

Within 24 hours of its release, “Beyond the Streets” became the No. 1 Amazon bestseller in psychiatric nursing — something Stathopoulos says she never expected.

“When I saw ‘number one bestseller,’ I was like, ‘What?’” she said. “That showed me that there’s hope. People are interested and want to look a bit deeper.”

Addressing interconnected challenges

Working on the front lines, Stathopoulos has witnessed how mental health, addiction, and homelessness are deeply interconnected.

“There’s too much demand,” she said, referring to shelters and mental health supports. “There aren’t enough shelters for the number of people that require.”

“It’s a cycle that kind of relates to itself,” she added. “Some people cope with addiction when they become homeless. Some people have mental health issues. It leads to addiction. Their addiction brings them to the street. So, it’s a very complex set of three themes that I really speak about in my book.”

Through “Beyond the Streets”, she hopes to shift public perception.

“We kind of attach a label, and it often has a negative connotation,” she said. “At the end of the day, we’re all human beings.”

She emphasizes that even a small gesture can make a difference. “I really want people to just understand… to take the time to really say hi, see the person, understand where they’re coming from, and not just dismiss them and walk away,” she said.

Seeing beyond the streets

The book’s title reflects her mission.

“It’s called Beyond the Streets because I want people to see beyond what we see in the street,” she said. “It’s quite a literal title.”

Stathopoulos takes a deeply human approach in her storytelling.

“I wanted it to be like a continuous, nice story and narrative, and that really exposes the realities of people and their stories because their stories matter,” she said.

“I call it like a big tree. I even make that comparison in my book. I say how a person has a bunch of branches that define them and make them, and if the roots of that person are not brought up in the right soil, with the right support, they fall through the cracks. I just want people to understand it’s like a whole story behind the person,” she explained further.

Her ultimate goal is prevention and awareness.

“The more we take the time to acknowledge people and acknowledge their suffering, only then can we do something,” she said. “If we acknowledge a problem, maybe we can find ways to prevent it. We should prevent and not treat. That’s the ultimate goal.”

Looking ahead, Stathopoulos plans to continue her education in research and public health, with a focus on psychiatry. For now, she is focused on giving a voice to the people she meets every day on the streets of Montreal.

“This was a person, or this is a person, and this is their story, and it deserves to be told,” she said.