“How are you?”

How often do you answer honestly?

And when you do answer honestly, how often does the other person stop and have a full conversation about (your) feelings?

“How are you?”

“Not great!”

“Awesome! I’m great too!”

That’s literally happened to me before. They don’t pay attention to my answer, grin, say they’re great and hurry off down the hallway.

Maybe our collective mental health would be a touch better if we spent a few more minutes actually listening to one another.

I’m not a huge proponent of mental health events run by big businesses to “raise awareness”– they get people talking about the words “mental health” for two seconds and then forget about people in crisis, kids who need help, intersectional issues, and the most vulnerable among us, all the while lining the pockets of enormous corporations, without actually helping people with mental illnesses (*ahem* Bell Let’s Talk).

But CMHA Mental Health Week, let’s talk. 

2020 is the 69th year the Canadian Mental Health Association is observing Mental Health Week, this year from May 4-10. (CMHA itself has been around for 100 years). They champion workplace and campus mental health and have resources for, yes, raising awareness about various mental health issues. 

This Covid-19 page is especially relevant.

As someone with multiple mental illnesses and who’s passionate about mental health, I don’t just want awareness raised. I want resources, I want support (emotional and financial). I want access. 

But actual awareness is a good place to start.

Will you join me on May 4th?