Media Advisory - Story opportunities during Mental Health Week

A media advisory from the Mental Health Commission of Canada:

CALGARY, April 28 /CNW Telbec/ - Next week is Mental Health Week (May 3 -9, 2010). You can speak with the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) for a national perspective on mental health issues and to find out more about its initiatives. Here are some of the issues the MHCC is tackling:

More than one thousand off the streets

In February 2008 the Federal government allocated $110million to the MHCC to undertake a 4 year research demonstration project looking at mental health and homelessness, called At Home/Chez Soi. The initiative is working in 5 cities across Canada (Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Moncton) to find ways to more effectively help people with mental illness who are homeless.

It is estimated that 25-50% of people who are homeless have a mental illness. Homelessness also costs the system up to $6 billion per year for health, criminal justice and social services.

Stigma: still the biggest barrier

Opening Minds is the MHCC's 10-year anti-stigma/anti-discrimination initiative designed to change the attitudes and behaviours of Canadians towards those living with mental illness. Launched in October 2009, the initiative is the largest systematic effort to reduce the stigma of mental illness in Canadian history. Opening Minds is focusing on three target groups: Youth (early intervention can make an enormous difference in reducing stigma), health care workers (stigma is mostly experienced on the medical front lines) and workforce (many employees choose to go untreated then risk being labeled by their employer).

The stigma of mental illness is one of the key reasons people with mental health issues report they would not seek help. Since more than seven million people will experience mental health problems this year alone in Canada, this is a significant issue.

Developing first Mental Health Strategy for Canadaever Mental Health Strategy for Canada

The MHCC is developing Canada's first ever mental health strategy. After an extensive national public consultation, the Commission released the document Toward Recovery and Well-Being in November 2009, which introduces the Commission's vision for change and the actions needed to address the mental health needs of Canadians. This document forms the framework for what will become Canada's first ever mental health strategy.


The MHCC is a non-profit organization created to focus national attention on mental health issues. It is funded by the federal government but operates at arm's length from all levels of government. The Commission's objective is to enhance the health and social outcomes for Canadians living with mental health problems and illnesses. www.mentalhealthcommission.ca

For further information: Karleena Suppiah, Communications Specialist, (403) 385-4050 (office), (403) 370-3835 (cell), ksuppiah@mentalhealthcommission.ca

Spring 2010 issue of CrossCurrents

A note from the editor published in the Spring 2010 issue of CrossCurrents:

This is an issue of CrossCurrents that you may not want to read. It forces us to confront our own contributions as health care providers in perpetuating stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness and addiction. We may think we are immune; after all, we work in this sector because we want to help people. Many health care providers I spoke with told me, “We don’t have that problem here.”

Yet consumers tell a different story. We solicited input from people with mental health and addiction issues. What became clear from the many submissions we received was the pervasiveness of stigma and discrimination in the health care system. People told us again and again that stigma is the single most important barrier to their quality of life, more so than the illness itself.

Stories like these describe the experience of stigma, but we know little about what interventions work in reducing it. This issue of CrossCurrents focuses on action. We hear first about Opening Minds, the 10-year anti-stigma campaign of the Mental Health Commission of Canada that in its first year is targeting stigma and discrimination among health care professionals, with the goal of developing promising practices. Next, Anne Ptasznik spends time with a group of psychiatry residents and consumers that meets informally in non-clinical settings, providing the valuable contact and context needed to combat stigma.

Social worker Cheryl Peever’s personal story shows that clinical knowledge does not always translate into effective workplace practices when mental illness or addiction is a workplace issue. Ned Morgan examines how the stigma that extends to those who work with people with mental health and addiction issues is perpetuated through film portrayals of mental health nurses. Other stories look at stigma in the emergency department and the black mark of borderline personality disorder. In her Last Word column, Jan Wallcraft asks whether public anti-stigma campaigns developed by psychiatrists do more harm than good. Visit the Last Word column to have your say.

Hema Zbogar
tel 416 595-6714
hema_zbogar@camh.net