Bell Lets Talk Day is happening next week, in fact it is just a few days away. January 29th.
I know I have a lot of non-canadian readers and followers, which means you probably don’t know what this day is all about. So let me explain.
In 2010 Bell Canada started a movement that they called Bell Lets Talk Day to encourage conversation on mental health. To motivate people to have conversations, Bell committed to making a donation every time a conversation happens. So how does it work? Well, there is a couple ways that Bell tracks the conversations that occur. Here is an explanation.
While a lot of people were originally unsure about the change this campaign could make, Bell has shown just how much they truly do want to make a difference. Since starting this campaign, Bell has donated a total of $100,695,763.75 to mental health initiatives on national and local levels.
Now, let me explain what I’m making this post. Bell Lets Talk Day gave me the power to start having conversations about my own issues, my own demons. Mental Health has been a really big part of my life and I’ve had my fair share of lows. This gave has allowed me to slowly start opening up, year after year, sharing my story with the ones that I love.
Now that I have a blog though, I have a bigger platform. I want to use this platform in a positive way, one that advocates and educates on as many subjects as possible. That is why I’m choosing to make a series leading up to Bell Lets Talk Day. I want to add to the initiative and make a difference in the world of battling the stigmas and isolation that surround the topic of mental health.
This series will focus solely on mental health. I will talk about a variety of different mental health topics including sharing my own mental health story with all of you. I want to not only contribute to the conversation but also practice what I preach. I want to demonstrate that it’s okay to not be okay and that sharing your story shouldn’t be something anyone is scared to do.
Bell doesn’t just make donations to contribute to the conversations though, they also have a website that is available year round. Here you can find a variety of resources and tools to help you and others in having those important conversations and getting help.
In this post, I am going to link a lot of the resources they offer below. I want to make it easy for you to be able to find all the resources you need to not only take part in this day, but also take part in the conversation everyday.
Spokespeople
Bell has had a lot of individuals step up to people spokespeople for their campaign. What I appreciate about these individuals is their willingness to open up and be honest about their own struggles. In the list of 46 spokespeople on their website, you find individuals who fall into a large range of genders, cultures, religions and occupations.
These are great in helping individuals understand that mental health impacts us all. I’ve outline a couple of them below, but if you want to find one to help a specific person I highly recommend looking here.
- Clara Hughes, Olympic Athletes
- Gord Cobey, Police Officer for 25 years
- Emma O’Hare, dealing with depression since the age of eight
- Souad Saidj, Wife and Mother of Two
- Queena Lau, dealt with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder in university
- Howie Mandel, Celebrity who has dealt with OCD and ADHD
- Jean-Pierre Langevin, a father whose son began experiencing signs of schizophrenia
Language Guide
Bell created this tool to help guide individuals in having conversation about mental health. This link not only gives you access to a printable PDF, but also gives you access to a powerpoint you can use to educate and having larger conversations with other people.
For individuals who are new to starting these conversations, and even individuals that have these conversations all of the time, I highly recommend giving it a read. It is packed with important information, handouts, guides and activities that can help anyone talk about mental health.
National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace
For all of my Canadian readers and followers, this is a great resource to read and know about. It acknowledges the importance creating a working environment that supports mental well-being. With the Mental Health Commissioner estimating that nearly 500,000 Canadians cannot go to work because of their mental health, this document is important.
I highly recommend ensuring your workplace is aware this document exists, sharing it with your boss and co-workers. Start having conversations about mental-well being in the workplace now, before it’s too late.
Get Help
Bell Lets Talk Day has a lot of partners in the field of mental health, meaning they know about and have access to a lot of different tools and resources to support others. This link will take you to a page filled the ways that you, and anyone else, can ask for and seek out help.
What’s so great about this single page is the populations is covers. There are resources for individuals who are kids, teens, adults, seniors, multilingual, families, caregivers and indigenous. It’s one page that can offer resources for so many people, ensuring everyone has a way of asking for help.
The Chatterbox
The Chatterbox is a fun activity to get both kids and adults talking about Mental Health. Remember those paper fortune tellers you made as a kid, with the numbers, colours and questions/predictions? That is exactly what this is, but it uses questions to get people talking and discussing mental health.
Bell Lets Talk Day
For anyone that wants to get involved in Bell Lets Talk Day, the website is filled with great resources. Let me break some of them down for you.
Fill in Printable Speech Bubble – Lets you fill in your own story, message or text and share a photo online or around your workplace/school
I’m excited to continue sharing this series of posts with you, contributing to breaking down the stigmas that surround mental health and building an environment for supporting a positive mental well-being for all. It’s 2020, its time we make discussing mental health a norm.