Bell Let’s Talk Day Draws Attention To Mental Illness

You didn’t hear much talk about mental illness years ago. Now organizations such as Bell Canada are getting people to talk about it. Bell Let’s Talk promotes awareness and action with a strategy built on 4 key pillars: Fighting the stigma, improving access to care, supporting world-class research and leading by example in workplace mental health. It’s estimated that one in five Canadians will experience a mental illness throughout their lifetime.

“Bell Let’s Talk Day website with all the information.”

Andrew Smith is a second year student at St. Thomas University. Smith says, “Days like this confines people to this just one day a year, like people feel like this is the only day they can talk about it when it should be every day.”

“Andrew Smith talking about how people should talk more about mental health”

Bell Let’s Talk day is not just for the people dealing with mental illness. People didn’t know much about mental illness and how it’s affecting others. Since then four out of five Canadians are more aware of mental health illness since Bell Let’s Talk began.

Celebrities such as Howie Mandel came out to tell people they’re not alone. Mandel revealed his ongoing struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and how it has shaped his life and career.

Jared Durelle is a first year student at St. Thomas University. Durelle says, “I think it should be something that we all hold on to is to be open about how were feeling and what going on with us that way mental health can be address rather than keeping it.”

Bell Let’s Talk is encouraging people to come out and speak about their mental illness. As Smith says, “People should come out more than one day a year.”