Bell Let’s Talk Day has been held annually since 2011. (Facebook/Bell Let’s Talk)

By Martin Martinson

Raising Awareness

Bell Let’s Talk Day encourages mental health conversation

Jan 28, 2021 | 1:08 PM

Thursday is Bell Let’s Talk Day across the country, and with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, having a conversation about mental health has perhaps never been more important.

This marks the 11^th year of the initiative, designed to raise awareness of the importance of mental health, and encourage conversation around the topic.

Chair of Bell Let’s Talk, Mary Deacon said via statement it’s great to see people all across the country come together to embrace the day and recognize the importance of mental health.

“With COVID-19 affecting every aspect of our lives, Canadians everywhere are feeling the impact of the ongoing crisis on their mental health,” she said. “Now more than ever, every action counts – and we invite [all] to make lending [their] voice to the Bell Let’s Talk Day conversation one of the actions [they] take for mental health today.”

Bell will donate five cents to mental health initiatives each time an individual watches one of their official videos on any of their social media platforms including YouTube; tweets or re-tweets using #BellLetsTalk on Twitter; uses the Bell Let’s Talk Facebook frame, or Bell Let’s Talk Snapchat filter; or uploads a video using #BellLetsTalk on TikTok.

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Jane Zielke de Montbrun is executive director with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Battlefords Branch. She said initiatives like ‘Bell Let’s Talk Day’ are important because it normalizes talking about mental health.

“I think it’s huge because historically people have been very reluctant to talk to others about what they’re experiencing in regards to mental health, because they don’t necessarily know how people are going to react,” she said. “I think this initiative makes a huge impact on how we look at mental health and people who are struggling with their mental health.”

Zielke de Montbrun said those in need of someone to talk to in the Battlefords community, can always call the CMHA Battlefords Branch, and they can refer various programs as it pertains to counseling or other avenues within the community.

“We’re an organization of support for people, so they can call us and talk to us about where they might connect to seek out some mental health services and also to provide some support to them,” she said. “It can be a hard thing to take that first step for many or to ask for help, so we’re here to help.”

She added the Battlefords Mental Health Centre, Catholic Family Services, and Battle River Treaty 6 Health Centre are just a few among the many organizations that provide mental health services/counseling in the community for those in need.

Last year, Bell Let’s Talk Day 2020 set a new single-day record with over 154,300,000 messages across all platforms. Since first starting in 2011, Canadians and people around the world have sent a total of more than 1.1 billion messages of support for mental health, bringing Bell’s total funding commitment to over $113,400,000.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1