The annual Bell’s Let’s Talk Day campaign is being celebrated throughout Canada on Jan. 25. Its goal is to crush the stigma that surrounds mental illness while simultaneously sparking discussion.
Michael Landsberg joined the Bell Let’s Talk team in 2014, becoming a campaign poster child. The long-time sports journalist and former host of TSN’s Off the Record has for years spoken openly about his personal battle with depression, voicing a commitment to reducing the stigma around mental illness.
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Landsberg’s not-for-profit organization #SickNotWeak, soon to become a registered charity, is designed to provide a community or individuals suffering from mental illness and their families.
“When we don’t speak, we don’t get help. When we don’t speak, we feel isolated, and we feel hopeless. However, when we talk about it, other people are spurred to talk, and this encourages other people to share,” Landsberg said, noting that medication has saved his life.
According to the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health Mental Illness and Addictions facts and statistics page, in any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experiences a mental health or addiction problem.
On Jan. 25th, Bell will donate five cents to Canadian mental health programs for every text message, mobile call and long distance call that is made, as well as every tweet using #BellLetsTalk, every view of the Bell Let’s Talk Day video on Facebook.com/BellLetsTalk, every Instagram post using #BellLetsTalk and every use of the Bell Let’s Talk geofilter on Snapchat.
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“I discovered that I was suffering from severe depression around the year 2000,” said Landsberg, who first went public about his struggles with depression in a 2009 interview with hockey player Stephane Richer, a fellow sufferer.
“This was life changing for me… I said, ‘Stephane, I know that in the ‘90s you really struggled with depression, and four days after winning the Stanley Cup in 1995, you attempted suicide.’ He said he never enjoyed playing a second of hockey, adding he never went for help because he didn’t think he could do it,” Landsberg recalled.
Landsberg subsequently shared his own story with Richer and the following day, he received about dozen letter, most of them from men.
“All of them said the same thing – that I was the first person to whom they had ever reached out, and talked to about their struggles with depression. They said they did it because it was the first time they heard two men speaking about their mental health issues without shame and embarrassment and without seeming weak,” Landsberg said.
While depression is horribly painful and debilitating, an illness Landsberg refers to as “a thief of your heart and soul and everything that makes you you,” it’s been heartening to witness the impact that sharing his struggles has had on others who are suffering.
“I found out that this poison [depression] inside of me can actually be somebody else’s medicine. I get to impact, change and save lives, with my daily Landsblog and videos. Once you discover the value of talking and sharing – shame on you if you don’t do it,” concluded Landsberg.