Day 3 - 27 -- Keep the conversation going

Let's Talk -- that is the annual message that begins in January each year. The day is sponsored by Bell, a major telecommunications and media corporation. The day advocates for more open discussions about mental health issues including reducing stigma, working for adequate care and access to that care, improved workplace health, and improved research for better understanding and better treatments. That is a huge undertaking, but the beginning is getting people talking about it. There is a theory of behaviour called 'agenda setting' part of which is to tell people what to think about -- get a discourse going about a topic with exploration of all views of the issues. This can move to the media coverage and social support needed to push forward for health policy changes.

One of the major aspects of the Let's Talk campaign has been getting people to actually think and discuss the topic -- taking mental health out of some dark attic corner and acknowledging its existence as a bona fide disease -- complete with biochemical alterations in the brain. Such discussions show that it isn't just a 'snap out of it' sort of thing. The hope is that more people begin to talk about it and how it may have affected their lives -- either through a family member, friend, colleague or the individual themselves. Each year spokespeople put a face on mental health -- depression, anxiety or panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder to name just a few. I've found that it has helped classroom discussions of mental health to go much smoother than a decade or more ago. Inaccessibility to adequate treatment has been a large part of the discussion, particularly among returning veterans. But, even access to services for campuses, communities and workplaces seem sorely inadequate. Research funding for all types of research is needed to ensure we understand societal situations, disease prevalence, and changes in social discourses around the subject as well as finding new treatments. There is much work to do, but before that can happen we have to be able to talk about this openly without fear of repercussions and use this to build a better society.

The two songs today come from two spokespeople for this campaign. The first singer has said that music was his therapy when working through mental health issues. He played out his feelings on his acoustic guitar "old brown".  The first selection today is one of his songs in which he sings acapella with the bodhran. The second is from a wonderful muscial artist. She has many songs that could fit for today's topic. These singer/songwriters have lent their voices to removing the stigma.  Enjoy!

Help Yourself -- Sean McCann

Counting Mercies -- Jann Arden