Today, Jan. 25, you will be hearing the phrase “Let’s Talk” a lot, in particular in relation to the Bell promotion, urging people to talk about mental health issues.
This is a good promotion to have, and they’ve put some celebrity power behind it so people will pay a little more attention to what it’s all about, with Howie Mandel as one of the people who have been doing commercials for it and who will host a program this evening, along with Olympian Clara Hughes.
Many Weyburn and area residents will remember her as she rode her bike through the area, and made a memorable stop in Weyburn, with a public appearance at the Legion and at the now-closed Weyburn Junior High. I recall she was an amazing, caring and energetic young woman who has a lot of passion about this topic and on this issue, which is really good — you need to have someone like her to help bring this topic to the fore.
Now, really, the issues of mental health should be talked about all year round, because mental health issues will not just be important on one day.
For people who live with mental illness, it’s a daily struggle, but the problem is, there is still a stigma attached, as if to suffer mental illness is somehow their fault or means there’s something really wrong with them. Mental health needs to be equated with physical health, and in the case of some mental health issues, they are related. What I mean is, if someone gets physically ill, do people look askance at them and go “tsk-tsk”, thinking they’re weird or that there’s something wrong?
No, they just go to a doctor, get a prescription, or in severe cases, go to the hospital for the medical care they need.
When a person has a mental illness, it shouldn’t be treated any differently, but with the same sensitivity, and giving the same sort of support, that one might give a person who has a medical issue.
Fortunately, we have people who have a certain status with the public, like Clara Hughes, who have the courage to stand up and talk about it, and to urge you and I to talk about it, and not treat it as something to hush up and avoid.
You can’t treat something like, say, pneumonia or a broken leg by ignoring it, right? Well, by the same token, you can’t treat depression or schizophrenia or some other mental illness by trying to ignore it either.
And, much like physical health, you can’t always assume you’ll always be in the best of health. You might face things in your life that have an impact on you mentally. If you do, then you need to find a friend, or a professional, and talk about it — then, you can deal with it.
