Bell Let's Talk and Breaking the Stigma: A Student's Perspective
By Olivia Paul (‘19)
On January 31st, 2018, Greenwood took part in a new revolution. We shifted our collective attention from some of the regular stressors of school life to a large-scale issue that encapsulates our whole society. Together, we continued the fight in favour of expanding the conversation about mental health and mental illness. This was symbolic of years of progress and fighting on behalf of mental health advocates and those afflicted with mental illness.
On January 31st, 2018, Greenwood took part in a new revolution. We shifted our collective attention from some of the regular stressors of school life to a large-scale issue that encapsulates our whole society. Together, we continued the fight in favour of expanding the conversation about mental health and mental illness. This was symbolic of years of progress and fighting on behalf of mental health advocates and those afflicted with mental illness.
Emma O’Hare, one of thousands of powerful voices behind Bell’s “Let’s Talk” movement, spoke candidly to students and teachers about her struggles with depression. At age nineteen, Emma is not much older than our high school students, and as such, she embodied a powerful message - mental illness does not have a face nor an age; it can affect anyone from all walks of life. After withstanding traumatic events in her childhood, Emma was diagnosed with major depressive disorder when she was ten years old, and has been walking the tumultuous and challenging road to recovery ever since. It is an uphill battle that so many members of our community are well acquainted with, as one in five Canadians are diagnosed with a mental illness. Yet they often remain isolated in their darkest thoughts and feelings, undetectable to those around them. Stigma casts a forbidding shadow over our society, obstructing a projected 36 million people nationwide from diagnosis, treatment, and perhaps most consequently, social acceptance. Bell is facilitating important dialogues across our country with this annual initiative, wherein Canada is encouraged to take a momentary break from the perpetual motion of daily life and appreciate the value and fragility of mental health. Every tweet with the hashtag #BellLet’sTalk, call or text on the Bell carrier and ‘share’ of a video on social media equated to Bell donating five cents to regional mental health programs. They asked us to start talking and we did - a record-breaking$6,919,199.75 was raised this year within the twenty-four hour period.
Greenwood’s own Jack Chapter was instrumental to the success of the school event. They distributed toques - which the students wore throughout the day in solidarity with those struggling with mental illness - laptop stickers, informative handouts detailing essential facts and figures about mental health, and helped to organize the speaker. Even though the day has passed until next year, Jack will serve as a perennial reinforcer that the best way to combat stigma is through talking, listening, staying educated and being kind - four cornerstones of Bell’s campaign. And both parties will no doubt work tirelessly on every subsequent day to ensure that the silenced voices begin to be heard.
The bravery of Emma and the rest of the Bell Let’s Talk crusade have hopefully resonated with every member of Greenwood and beyond. Mental health exists upon a fluctuating spectrum, which affects us all, so it is imperative that we continue talking. And for everyone who feels the weight of living with seemingly insurmountable emotional pain, or sees the impacts mental illness has on someone close to them, let this day be a reminder to never, ever keep fighting. In the words of Emma herself, “where there’s life, there’s hope.”
Greenwood College School
443 Mount Pleasant Road
Toronto, ON M4S 2L8
Tel: 416 482 9811
Toronto, ON M4S 2L8
Tel: 416 482 9811
We acknowledge with gratitude the Ancestral lands upon which our main campus is situated. These lands are the Ancestral territories of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Anishinabek and the Wendake. The shared responsibility of this land is honoured in the Dish with One Spoon Treaty and we strive to care for the land, the waters, and all creatures in the spirit of peace. We are responsible for respecting and supporting the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. When away from this campus we vow to be respectful to the land by protecting and honouring it. We will create relationships with the people and the land we may visit by understanding the territories we enter and the nations who inhabit them.
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