On Bell Let's Talk Day, CFAX 1070 and Bell Media stations across the country are raising awareness about mental health by speaking with special guests who are dealt with it, or know somewone who is.
One of those people is BC's own Minister of Mental Health and Addictaiuons, Judy Darcy.
She says the stigma of mental health has been a barrier to people seelking health for too long -- but by talking about it, we force the issue out into the open where it can be dealt with:
" When I was growing up and my mother was struggling with mental illness and addiction we didn't talk about it. It was a source of deep dark shame. She was institutionalized several times in that small town, you know, in southwestern Ontario. But it wouldn't have been in British Columbia. You didn't tell your buddies where your mother was because they considered those places to be crazy houses, looney bins, you know. "
Darcy says the province is taking a broad approach, working across government on the issue -- including developing programs with the Ministry of Education to foster understanding and fight the stigma of mental illness, earlier.