Bell Let’s Talk meant to spur mental health discussion beyond one day

By Peggy Revell on February 1, 2018.

prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell

Local voices were getting the conversation rolling about mental health, as Bell Let’s Talk program returned across the country on Wednesday.

As part of the day, five cents is donated by Bell Canada toward mental health initiatives for every social media post where the #BellLetsTalk hashtag is used— but what makes the day important is that people are sharing their own stories, not just the hashtag, said Breanne Mellen with the Canadian Mental Health Association of Alberta Southeast Region.

“People are opening up more, and they’re becoming more willing to share their story of mental illness, and that’s empowering others to do the same,” she said.

This visibility lets others know they’re not alone, she said, and that others have gone through what they’ve gone through.

It also gives organizations like CMHA the chance to remind people of local supports available, she said.

“The hashtag is great because it gets us talking for one day, but we need to continue these conversations throughout. We need to be directing people to get support — from psychiatrists, accessing local supports,” Mellen said.

The YMCA, local fire service, library, college and more —a number of local organizations took time to participate.

“Bell Let’s talk obviously falls right in line with what we’re doing in schools,” said Lori Frelick, co-ordinator for an AHS initiative that provides mental health programming for SD 76 schools. The day helps promote positive mental health, gives them a chance to share what local resources are available, and reduce the stigma around mental health, she said. It’s one of many events they hold throughout the year to promote mental health in the schools.

“The reason we really embrace Bell Let’s Talk this year is we have one in five teens who experience a mental health illness or concern,” said April Welshman, with the mental health capacity building programs in Alexandra Middle School and Hat High.

At Alexandra, they localized the day by also calling it “AMS Let’s Talk” and put up posters and selfies of teachers to show students the number of people they can go to for support.

It’s important to talk about mental health more than just the one day, said Welshman, but Bell Let’s Talk serves as a way to get the conversation started, or restarted, and remind people in your life you’re there to support them.

One way to keep the conversation going beyond Jan. 31 is to just take the time to ask people on a regular basis how they’re feeling and doing, said Welshman.

Mental health is something that the local police service deals with on a daily basis.

“We go to an average of 100 calls per month dealing with mental health,” said Cst. Travis Funk, with the MHPS’ Police and Crisis Team (PACT), a partnership with AHS where they work with a mental health clinician on crisis calls to get people needed support and care, and to hopefully reduce the amount of contact they have with police.

“So it’s important for us to participate in these (Bell Let’s Talk) days, because we recognize that mental health is every where in the community as a health concern.”

There’s also a focus on mental health for officers, such as a psychologist being hired this past year for staff.

“It’s important because we deal with all kinds of different things on a daily basis and we have to make sure that our own members mental health is taken care of and looked after,” said Funk.

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