A new
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) campaign aims to combat the trivializing language often used to dismiss mental health and addiction issues.
The
Defeat Denial campaign was launched last week and will continue rolling out across the GTA throughout the month.
A combination of media platforms—transit shelter ads, billboards, TV spots, radio and the web—feature flippant phrases often used to brush off mental illness ("You just need a change of scenery") followed by a more realistic appraisal of what someone suffering from mental illness might need ("Maybe it's a hospital").
By turning dismissive phrases on their head, the hope, states the
CAMH website is to "defeat denial and help defeat mental illness."
"Our commitment is to lead change in mental health,” stated CAMH president and CEO Catherine Zahn in a news release. "We've all heard or said things like, 'Don't worry, it's just a phase,' 'It's all in your head,' 'Snap out of it' and 'You just need a night out.' While we're all familiar with this trivializing language, until we recognize that it deters people from seeking help, we won't be able to help the two out of three Canadians suffering from mental illness who have been denied and dismissed."
Meant to be provocative, the campaign forces viewers and listeners to think about the language they use when discussing mental health (see examples
here).
Based in Toronto, CAMH centres make up the largest mental health research institution the country.
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: CAMH