Let’s Talk Mental Health ; End the Stigma

When it comes to ending the stigma around mental health, where do you start?

With one conversation at a time.

No, it doesn’t have to be a big presentation, sophisticated discussion or an elaborate preparation each time.

Make it part of your day.

Do you ride the bus? Chat with a friend on the phone? Have dinner with your family? Create posts on social media?

There are simple everyday moments where we can acknowledge and address the reality of mental health. The goal is to spend more time talking about it and getting used to it as part of our ‘normal.’

Whether we are aware of it or not, it has been part of our normal for a long time. Consider the statistics of people around you on a day-to-day basis.

One in five Canadians experience mental health illness throughout their lives, according to the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH.) By the time they reach 40, one in two Canadians either have or previously experienced a mental illness. 52 per cent out of those who struggle with their mental health aren’t getting the help that they need. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged between 15-24, with an average of 200 attempts each day. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that 50 per cent of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14 and 75 per cent by age 24.

Do we realize what this means?

There is a 20 per cent chance that one of our relatives, friends, colleagues or acquaintances is suffering from a mental health problem. That’s equivalent to one in a family of five, friend group of five or workforce of five, and very many people we are passing by on the street, each day. Half of us will temporarily or permanently experience mental illness throughout our lives by the time we reach 40. Half of that number won’t even get the help they need. And there’s a good chance some of them will try to end their life.

That is a high number of people and once we realize they are around us on a daily basis, ignoring the reality doesn’t make sense. Ignoring that is wrong. We urgently need to talk about this.

What does this conversation look like?

It can take the form of anything from expressing understanding and compassion while listening to someone’s struggle, sharing tips with our loved ones on how to keep mentally healthy in the form of building healthy habits or working on both strengthening and resilience routines, learning about mental health by reading and watching relevant content, up to sharing our own stories and encouraging others to push forward and reach out for help and support, as they need it. Above all, we need to work on eliminating the stigma around mental health.

What is this stigma, what causes it and why is it there?

According to the American Psychiatric Association, the public stigma involves the negative or discriminatory attitudes that others have about mental illness. This can include stereotyping and prejudices, including those under the impression that people experiencing mental illness are dangerous, incompetent, to blame for their disorder or unpredictable. They can experience discrimination where employers may not hire them, landlords may not rent to them or the health care system may offer a lower standard of care.

People are sometimes ridiculed, not taken seriously or shamed for their experiences, feelings or situation. Many avoid talking about mental health for various reasons, whether they are experiencing an illness or not. It’s one of those things where we don’t want to ask or invite uncomfortable questions, draw unwanted attention toward another person or ourselves, risk offending someone or starting a conflict.

Thankfully, there are various movements to help us on this journey. One example is Bell Let’s Talk. Canadian telecommunications company, Bell, started raising awareness and donations for mental health initiatives in 2010, where people have participated by sharing social media posts or texts with the hashtag #BellLetsTalk for over a decade.

Bell donated five cents for each post or message, which has since then accumulated to more than $129 million dollars. The company reminded us that we needed to start the conversation. In 2018, the non-profit “Hi, How Are You?” (HHAYP) organization reminded us that we need to continue it.

“The Hi, How Are You Project (HHAYP) is … (a) non-profit organization with the mission to remove the stigma around mental health, one conversation at a time,” the company writes on their site. “We aim to educate people worldwide about the importance of mental health and well-being while promoting a culture of inclusion.”

The company focuses on various programs involving music, building healthy habits, offering the opportunity for people to take a pledge in asking others “Hi, How Are You?” and honouring the world mental health day festival, in memory of and initially inspired by world-renowned musician and visual artist Daniel Johnston, who also struggled with mental illness.

I encourage you to do your part. The next time you see someone, ask that person… “Hi, how are you?” Treat and make everyone feel human in your day-to-day life by saying hello, giving that person the time of day, taking an interest in their existence and encouraging one to keep going forward. You could change someone’s day or life.

#BellLetsTalk #HiHowAreYou? #EndTheStigma 

Click here for Bell Let’s Talk tools to continue the conversation.

Click here for Bell Let’s Talk resources to seek help or information support.