Support #BellLetsTalk Day

Jan. 25 is Let’s Talk Day, when Bell will donate five cents for every call and text made on its network.  They will also donate when you use Facebook and Tweet using #BellLetsTalk.

So what does it all mean?

It means that over the years, Bell has donated $73 million to mental health initiatives. Believe me, it may sound like a lot of money, but it is a mere drop in the bucket. Statistics show that mental difficulties are on the rise. Lots of variables come into play here.

One, there are a lot more people on this planet, and there is not the stigma attached to mental health as there once was. Also, ways of diagnosing and treating have surpassed prior options. I don’t know how many lobotomies are still performed each year, but I have a feeling that is not a logical treatment in most cases. You might wonder why I would write an article on mental health, well, I live with a mentally challenged person, and no, it is not the CEO of the farm (although some days I wonder). My adopted son was born with a myriad of mental inflictions. Professionally diagnosed (so not my personal opinion) with Aspergers Syndrome, ADHD, OCD and ODD, he missed the mark for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) by less than one millimetre. In layman terms, ADHD means hyper and unable to concentrate for any length of time, OCD means obsessive compulsive behaviour (can’t leave the house until he set things on his dresser the right way) and ODD means that he does not listen to discipline (In the most deepest sense. He thinks that if he gets someone to write him a note, he can break any law he wants). FAS has a very distinct look to it. Facial measurements are the leading signs in the diagnosis as well as some other elements. FAS is the result of a pregnant woman drinking through their pregnancy.

Let me tell you, it has been many years of challenges. The biggest challenge has been trying to get him help. I have spent countless hours on the phone giving interviews to agencies that promise to help, yeah right.

The problem is that there are not enough agencies to help with the growing demand for mental help. The reason that there is such a shortage is lack of funds to keep these agencies going. It takes a special type of person to do counselling, sometimes I wonder what the mental condition is of some of these councillors. This past summer resulted in a drastic action that was a difficult decision to come to, it meant putting my son in the mental unit of RVH. He needed help. The unit is under strict control and constant video monitoring. I thought that I was doing the right thing. This was after years of tried and failed medications, in other words I was at the end of my mental rope. They had counselling sessions that he would not participate in because he didn’t “know” anyone in there. I finally got him to go to an acupuncture session where there was a girl a little older than him who had tried to commit suicide (the stats on teenage suicide would shock you). Pretty, blonde, full of chatter, she made Anthony feel a little more comfortable in his surroundings, so much so that he would phone me up and ask me to bring him snacks because he and this girl were going to watch a movie.

Once he perked up with his new friend there was no longer a need for him to stay in the unit, so the professionals thought. So they told me to pick him up as they were so short of bed space. Of course nothing had changed with him, I mean who doesn’t perk up at the thought of a party? In days gone by you used to be able to have someone “committed” for lack of a better word. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Doctors are afraid to go to that extreme as so many of them have been sued for that very action. Even more disturbing is the fact that once a kid reaches the tender age of 16 the law says that they are able to make their own decisions regarding, well, everything.

I don’t know about you but when I was 16 I didn’t know very much about the real world, the terrifying real world. This is a law that I strongly feel should be changed. You can’t vote until you are 18 so why are you allowed to make life decisions at 16? So what is the answer? How is it all going to end? I have no idea, I just know that I need to change my shoes for the rest of this journey, as these ones have a hole in them.

So on Jan. 25, please help Bell raise more money for a great cause, you will be helping more people and kids get the help that they need.