October 1-7 is Mental Illness Awareness Week
Ottawa (29 Sept. 2006) - Twenty per cent of Canadians (one in five)will experience a mental illness at some point during their lifetime.
It’s crucial to educate Canadians about the nature of mental illness and reduce the stigma associated with the disease. A number of myths have led to misunderstandings about mental illness, preventing many people from seeking and getting help when they need it. All of us can make a difference for the nearly six million Canadians affected by mental illnesses.
Mental Illness Awareness Week presents a reminder of some fairly fundamental factors:
- First—reach out. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or to ask how you can help. This is a message for the family as well as for the person who is suffering alone and for all of us who know someone in trouble.
- Get help early. Early intervention and treatment reduce long term disability from mental illness.
- Talk about it. Share your stories to help others understand.
- Share the care. Treatment and support of persons with mental illness involves many types of caregivers; each has an important role to play.
- Hope. While there are no cures for severe mental illnesses, improved treatments and community supports offer increased hope for recovery from its symptoms and a better quality of life.
- Finally, respect differences. People with mental illnesses and their families are as diverse as the general population.
Unfortunately, the stigma surrounding mental illness prevents sufferers from seeking the help they need, impairs recovery, affects the quality and availability of care and needed supports and even takes lives. Stigma also continues to keep mental health low on the health agenda.
Mental illness knows no boundaries; it can affect all people, regardless of age, culture, income and education. We all have a role to play. NUPGE/UPNBC
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