Did you know one in five Canadians live with mental illness at any given time? Did you know, furthermore, that someone very close to you could be living with this disability, completely unknown to others?

Mental health by definition is “a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being.” This leads into the definition of mental illness, which ultimately covers a broad field of mental conditions; “disorders that affect one’s mood, thinking and behaviour.” Examples of mental illnesses include: depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and addictive behaviours. Mental illness is greatly overlooked, not necessarily intentionally, but society has become very naïve and ignorant towards mental illness as it is a very hidden disability.

Many people tend to brush past mental conditions, or call them out as being over-exaggerated or imagined. My best friend worked in a restaurant downtown, and one time had a customer come in alone, saying he was looking for things to do in the area as his girlfriend was in the hospital. When asked what for, he replied with “anxiety attacks”, air quotes and all.  My friend confronted him on his use of air quotes and he replied “it’s probably all in her head”. As someone who has suffered panic attacks since age 11, I can tell you that they are very much real. Whether battling anxiety disorders, depression, insomnia or something similar, a mental illness in an invisible condition. Someone close to you could wake up in a panic in the middle of the night, and you wouldn’t know, as they suffer in silence. Due to the majority of the public being uneducated on this, many are hesitant on speaking to anyone about it, let alone seek the help they need, out of fear of people judged or called out as weird.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, based in downtown Toronto, has started a campaign called “One Brave Night”, with the goal to help break the stigma, raise awareness and money, and inspire hope for those who need it. The idea of the campaign is that there is one date set up, Canada-wide (April 6^th this year) where participants commit to stay awake all night, and can register to gain donations towards the cause. On their campaign website, CAMH has set it up so those who have battled or are battling mental illness can share their stories in the hope they will inspire and give support to others.

This is the fourth year running, over the past three years there have been over 3500 participants, 15000+ donors, and over $1.5 million raised, with which they have opened three new youth clinics, tested new treatment options, redeveloped CAMH facility, published over 500 journals, and looked into more effective and timely ways to access mental health services, as anyone no matter what their age or financial situation should be able to access the help and services they need. Last year alone CAMH treated around 34,000 patients. Not-so-fun fact: 70% of mental challenges start during childhood and adolescence.

Hopefully at this point you all realize how big of an issue mental health awareness is, so now I’m going to tell you how you can get involved. There are many many ways you can involve yourselves today, if not in this specific campaign, then through generally helping to break the stigma. If you are busy April 6th, don’t want to pull an all-nighter or don’t think you’re physically able to, you can sign up simply to show support. Or if you have experience with mental illness or know someone who does, share your story or encourage them to share theirs, as reading about other people’s victories can give comfort to those looking for their own.

If you cannot afford to donate financially, or don’t know anyone to donate to, you can show support and help the cause by tweeting about it, posting on Instagram or Snapchat, or changing your Facebook status. Two minutes out of your day can make a big impact on those around you. Again, you may have someone very close to you living with a mental disability that is hidden to those around them, and a social media post just might encourage them to open up to you, leading you to being their first step to recovery.

If you forget about the website, or the campaign, or are not sure how to word a post regarding mental illness, I still encourage each and every one of you to go home and either tonight or sometime this weekend do at least a bit of research on the campaign, mental illness itself, or what CAMH’s goals are. Together with enough people talking about this major issue, we can break the stigma around mental illness, and change not only the lives of Canadians, but so many people across the globe.