Bell Let's Talk is an annual campaign dedicated to encouraging a national conversation about mental health in Canada, to reduce or eliminate the stigma attached to mental illness.
Bell Let's Talk Day is on Wednesday, February 9, 2011. On that day, Bell will contribute 5 cents for every long distance call and text message its customers make to support mental health related programs across the country.
One of the issues the Bell chat initiative aims to tackle is postpartum depression.
It happens to a lot of women and even movie stars like Brooke Shields and Gwyneth Paltrow have made their stories public.
CTV Consumer Watch Specialist, Lea Williams-Doherty is also speaking out about the difficulties she experienced after the birth of her son.
Lea says the symptoms for her were insomnia and anxiety and that she didn't recognize the signs at first.
It took three months before Lea realized something wasn't quite right. She sought professional help and engaged in talk therapy and then medication to ease her insomnia and anxiety.
When she got pregnant the second time she knew she would be susceptible to postpartum depression again so she drew from her past experience and got help immediately.
Another debilitating mental health issue that the initiative hopes to bring to the forefront is Bipolar disorder.
We all have highs and lows in our lives but for those with bipolar disorder, the highs are extreme and the lows can be utterly unbearable.
Candace Watson suffers from bipolar disorder and says that it has been one of the toughest struggles of her life.
She first realized something was wrong when she was unable to sleep and suffering from anxiety.
Her disease progressed to severe delusions that she truly believed. Her family intervened and took her to the hospital where she was diagnosed and got the help she needed.
Watson is highly productive and holds down a job and is socially active.
She is tackling her disorder and is on the board of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
She says her treatment is ongoing and that mental illness can happen to anyone at anytime.
For more information on Bell Let's Talk click on the link.