Mental health is an issue that has historically not been in the spotlight, but there are fresh signs in the Ottawa area and across Canada suggesting the public is ready to discuss the topic kept silent for so long.
Dustin Garron, a 19-year-old mental health advocate and student at the University of Ottawa, says he hopes telling his story, as part of the recent Let’s Talk Day outreach campaign, will help erase the stigma associated with mental health.
Garron said he attempted suicide multiple times since he was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and borderline personality disorder in 2011, but says he’s doing better now thanks in large part to his work raising mental health awareness in Ottawa and across the country.
One of the biggest mental health initiatives Garron says he was a part of was the fourth annual Bell Let’s Talk Day, held at end of January.
“I often say Bell Let’s Talk Day is my favourite day of the year, even more than Christmas,” he says with a laugh.
The one-day campaign saw Bell donate five cents to mental health programs across the country for every text message, mobile call, and long-distance call from Bell customers, as well as every tweet using the event’s official hashtag and Facebook share of the Let’s Talk Day image, according to the event website.
Mary Deacon, chair of the Bell Mental Health Initiative in charge of organizing Let’s Talk Day, says this year’s event was a success.
She says her goal was to break last year’s record $4.8 million donation from Bell on Let’s Talk Day. The event surpassed that target this year and by bringing in more than $5.4 million.
For Deacon, the year-round mental health initiative is close to her heart because of the personal connection she has to mental illness.
“I live with depression and I have my whole life, and I manage it through the kinds of things that work for me, and I have a tremendous support system of family and friends,” she says. “But in addition, mental illness runs in my family and I’ve lost two brothers to depression and suicide in the last 20 years, so this is a deeply personal issue to me.”
But since Deacon says companies have to apply for grants to receive funding from the Let’s Talk initiative, there are some organizations that Bell is not able to help.
In the Ottawa area, one group searching for more funding is the Centretown Community Health Centre.
Judy McConnery, the centre’s director of mental health and addictions, says her centre provides many free mental health services and is always in need of more money to keep them operating.
She says her centre is not affiliated with the Let’s Talk initiative and relies on mental health funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care as well as the City of Ottawa.
But McConnery says she strongly supports the public campaign.
“The more we talk about it, the better it is with the stigma going down and people looking for help. But I think at the same time, there isn’t enough money there,” she says. “The balance is changing, which is great, but we need more in every sector to be able to respond to the needs of even more people seeking services now.”
Garron says that despite how much he loves Let’s Talk Day, his only complaint is that even though it is part of Bell’s year-round mental health initiative, everyone seems to talk about it for just one day.
He says the subject of mental health is a discussion that needs to happen more often and deserves more funding to help as many people as possible.
“More money is going to have to come from the government making a substantial investment for the mental well-being of its citizens, and I think everyone has to find a way to contribute,” he says.