The #1 Danger for Children

I have blogged before about mental health, but have recently seen a couple of things that bear repeating, so I'm doing a three-post piece on mental health, the challenges for us, and some strategies to address them…. 

One of the sea changes in Canadian society over the last decade or so has been the emergence of mental health from an “in the closet” subject into a mainstream concern. Sadly, the catalyst of this has in part been the range of tragedies – suicides, bullying, and other forms of harm – that people have seen and read about. While I am not sure whether there are more or fewer of these occurrences compared to 25 years ago, what is clear is that we talk about them far more. Media cover then, institutions are more transparent about them, and families are often more open, despite the crippling impact the events have had on their lives. While there is some debate about whether the profile may cause some people to consider actions that they would have not otherwise, most experts I know agree that the heightened profile is far better than where we used to be. Of course, this is because many families who dealt with mental health used to feel that they were the only ones, the exceptions. The oppressive, suffocating fear of stigma drove the subject deep into the dark.

I cannot think of a family I know well who has not dealt with mental illness in some way – through a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt or child – and my own is no exception. The stats are stunning: 20% of Canadians have experienced or will experience mental health challenges; 1 million suicides per year worldwide, 30,000 in the US, 4,000 in Canada; it is the largest health threat and #1 cause of death for young people.

A number of high profile Canadians have shined light on this subject by sharing their own families’ stories. The early one I remember was the great Canadian, Hon. Michael Wilson, whose son Cameron struggled with depression before taking his own life. Others like Valerie Pringle, Shelagh Rogers and Mary Walsh are some of many who, through their own story-telling, are opening up people’s understanding to how common these afflictions are, how they are not alone, and how, in most cases, there are ways to cope and/or get better.

One of the most powerful stories is being told through the Jack Project, founded by Eric Windeler in memory of his son who committed suicide at university three years ago. Here is Eric delivering a TED talk on the death of his son at the university they both attended. You will see that I have used some of Eric’s messages in this post because of the power of the message. The Jack Project is doing some amazing things and is one of the organizations that is changing the way we deal with mental health in young people.

In my next entry, I’ll talk about some of the emerging issues in education, including a provocative study about risk factors relating to children from affluent backgrounds.