Thursday, March 28, 2024

Province announces free mental health counselling for post-secondary students ahead of Bell Let’s Talk Day

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Canada’s biggest private mental health initiative will be kicking off tomorrow.

Bell Let’s Talk Day is a nationwide fundraiser for mental health supports and initiatives overseen by Bell Media. 

As it has done since starting in 2010, the media company will donate five cents for every applicable social media post made on Wednesday January 29th that uses the hashtag #BellLetsTalk. 

A full list of ways that Bell will donate can be found on their website here.

New mental health support in B.C.

As is often the case, more initiatives to help Canadians suffering from mental health illnesses have been announced before the big day tomorrow. 

In a statement made on Tuesday, January 28th, B.C.’s Ministry of Advanced Education announced the creation of a 24/7 mental health counselling and referral service for all post-secondary students in British Columbia. 

The service, overseen by HR and health services company Morneau Shepell, is set to launch in Spring 2020. First, the province will liaise with students and universities across the province to optimize the service.

This is the first -provincial all-access mental health support for the approximately 490,000 post-secondary students at any of British Columbia’s 25 public universities and 340 private institutions. 

“Many students don’t come forward and ask for the help they need because of the stigma that still surrounds mental health issues,” said Judy Darcy, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, in the statement. “This service will meet young people where they are at and provide them immediate access to someone to talk to, without shame or judgement.”

The three-year contract has a budget of $1.5 million per year. 

Stigma around mental health remains prevalent, Bell says

The 2016 National College Health Association survey of Canadian post-secondary students found a significant number of students are experiencing mental health challenges.

44.4% of surveyed students reported that at some point in the previous 12 months they felt “so depressed it was difficult to function.”

See more: Victoria-made mental health app officially launches on Bell Let’s Talk Day 

The goal of the Bell Let’s Talk campaign is to reduce the stigma around mental health, and get Canadians talking to one another about the problems that so many of them face. 

Last year, Bell tallied a total of 1,013,915,275 interactions, which means the company committed over $100 million dollars to health care initiatives. 

And according to the media company, 86% of Canadians say they are more aware of mental health issues due to the campaign.

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