Bell Let's Talk...Today Anyway

  Every year January 28 is Bell Let's Talk Day. It's a day set aside to raise awareness and money for mental health programs across the country. For every social media post with the hashtag, Bell Media will donate 5 cents. Simple, easy, and every year it raises millions of dollars. It's a wonderful initiative. The downside of it all? One day we are all talk and supportive...the days and weeks that follow? Not so much.

  We keep hearing the word "stigma" and how we need to remove it from our vocabulary and way of thinking permanently. So why do we lower our voice when we talk about a friend or family member who is depressed? Or an aunt who is bipolar? If mental health is no different than kidney stones or diabetes why the secrecy? Embarrassment...that's what. 

   Yesterday we were told that kids would be heading back to school while we are still in lockdown. I was told that they should not be going and when I said that of all the days to be dismissing mental health's importance I was told that at least they would not be dead from COVID. Okay, that's a point but if a teenager suffers from depression or anxiety it could last their entire lives!! Would any parent want to condemn their child to a life filled with those two diseases? I don't think so. But we make tough decisions every day as parents and we need to look at the whole picture and our kids mental health has to be part of the equation.

   So how do we change the way people talk and look at mental health issues? I used to think if you or someone you knew suffered from it then it would be easier to get people to open up about it. But the stats say 1 in 5 Canadians suffer from some form of issue. That means we ALL have a friend or family member already. And that didn't change anything. Then I thought well once you go to a funeral of someone who just couldn't go on because of their suffering that would immediately change your way of thinking. Yet sadly I can think of at least 4 people in my family and nothing changed for the majority of those left behind. I was wrong again.

  If death and suffering haven't turned the whispers into screams then honestly I don't know what will. It makes me sad knowing so many people are tortured and they cannot tell their loved ones about it. I always come back to something my mother-in-law said close to 25 years ago. "If my child had cancer or diabetes people would be offering support but because he is mentally ill no one will look at me or talk to me about it." Truer words were never said back then, or unfortunately, now.

  Keep talking. Always. And if no one listens talk to me...I will. That's a promise!

  Ang