Celebrating National Mental Health Week

Today marks the start of National Mental Health Week (May 4-10, 2009). Halifax and the IWK Health Centre are privileged to be the national host for Mental Health Week events, but others are doing their part across Canada to build awareness.

As part of Mental Health Week Canada will celebrate National Child and Youth Mental Health Day on May 7. The day's events will include an address by Dr. Stan Kutcher and the Honourable Senator Michael Kirby, a recipient of the Order of Canada for his lifetime of achievement on public policy issues and his commitment to confronting issues related to mental illness.

A quick snapshot of Mental Health Week news:

The Schizophrenia Society of Canada recently commissioned a Canada-wide survey to learn how it can support people living with schizophrenia and their families to recover the best quality of life possible. The extensive survey, the largest of its kind in North America, highlighs certain key areas in which quality of life can be improved for people living with a mental illness.

The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia has launched a mental health awareness campaign that looks really sharp.

OurHealthyMinds.com, a Capital District Health mental health website, is launching officially on May 7.

The Canadian Mental Health Association and Desjardins Financial Security are encouraging Canadians to test their stress levels over the lunch hour. Volunteers and Staff from CMHA will be handing out stress cards as part of a public education campaign to promote mental health in the workplace.

Stand Up For Mental Health, a program that teaches stand-up comedy to people with mental illness, will perform their inaugural show on Friday, May 8 in Ottawa.

Canada Post is accepting applications for mental health projects. In October 2007, Canada Post adopted mental health as its cause of choice, becoming the first major Canadian corporation to do so. Now, Canada Post has created an independent organization, the Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health, to support this often-overlooked  cause and stigmatized illness