Mental health is something we cannot see and is definitely not something we hear about as often as we should.

Mental health affects everyone in the world whether or not you are aware of it. Not nearly enough information is provided to the public to help us fully understand how to deal with mental health.

The only time I believe mental health is tangibly talked about, in a public way, is through ‘Bell Let’s Talk’ campaign – which is only one day out of the year. The campaign is supposed to make us more aware about mental illness but is it really providing us with the necessary information? I don’t believe so.

There is not enough accessible information in Canada to help us understand living with or even without mental illness. Accessible, readily available resources are important because they provide us with a foundation of knowledge we can build upon. Whether or not you are suffering from mental illness, it affects all of us somehow. People in society you may encounter could be suffering, perhaps even a friend or family member. “It is hard to help someone with mental illness if you aren’t educated on how to help them,” says Rumila Chattopadhyay. She never understood how to fully help her family members suffering from mental illness.

Although there are many online resources, research is not as effective as talking to a professional.  We have places like the Canadian Mental Health Association and the mental health help line. But, are these enough to help us become more aware of the illnesses within our communities? No!

Canada needs a lot more resources put out there for people to educate themselves. This could help people to understand the signs of different mental illnesses. Also, it helps to educate us on further things because mental health is linked to drug addiction, and a lot of other disorders

It is important to have knowledge on this subject. Post-secondary institutions need to educate their students more about mental illnesses because as young people, we are vulnerable.