Children’s mental health’s about more than just the stats.
The People Behind the Numbers: Canada’s Children’s Mental Health Stories
While we do talk about mental health now more than ever, with many of us, the conversation goes as far as sharing a post once a year and calling it a day.
But it’s about so much more than that. There are people behind the stats—people suffering from mental illnesses who have friends and families who care about them. There’s a whole world of untold stories out there about children’s mental health, and we hope that through this work for Children’s Mental Health Week, we can start to change that.
And sharing these stories is essential—in some parts of our province, children and youth wait upward of eighteen months for treatment for the problems they face today. The community-located mental health centres can’t keep up with the ever-growing problem—with suicide as the second-most cause of death for children and youth in Canada; inaction can prove fatal.
Kim Moran, CEO of Children’s Mental Health Ontario, puts it well:
“There are long wait lists across the province for child and youth mental health which is placing a strain on mental health service providers, hospitals, and the families turning to them for care…immediate and increased investments towards the support of young people with mental illness are needed. We can’t continue with the status quo.”
In short, it’s important that we do what we can to bring about some much-needed change… and it usually starts with a conversation.
Mental Health in Thunder Bay: Patti Rantala’s Story
In episode three of our Children’s Mental Health Week series, we speak with Patti Rantala from Thunder Bay, who shares her experience with children’s mental health and navigating the mental health system. She shares why we must remember that Ontario’s a vast and diverse province needing very different solutions depending on where you find yourself in it!
In collaboration with Children’s Mental Health Ontario, I present Chatting with Casey’s Children’s Mental Health Week, 2019 Episode Three—Toronto Isn’t Everything: Mental Health Across the Province.
I hope you take the time to listen to it!
But that’s it for this episode. Keep changing the world out there, and if you want to show your support, make sure to join the #kidscantwait movement at https://www.cmho.org/stay-informed!
Until the next,
