By: Carly Recoon
On January 27th Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and text messages lit up with the hashtag of #BellLetsTalk. The purpose of this message was to promote conversation about mental health and to create a stigma-free Canada. Although the phone company Bell is mainly based in Canada, it received global support. For every text message sent, wireless call and long distance call made by Bell and Bell Aliant customers, every time someone joined the campaign social media or used the #BellLetsTalk hashtag, Bell contributed 5 cents to programs dedicated to mental health. Bell raised a whopping grand total of $6,295,764.75. BellLetsTalk has sent out an initiative to raise awareness for mental health with several experts in the field. With support from its spokespersons and sponsors, Bell has collectively raised over $100 million to support a wide range of mental health organizations.
Bell uses its ideals of the Four Pillars to educate society on mental health. These teachings consist of Anti-stigma, Care & Access, Workplace Health, and Research. Care & Access is a huge component of mental health care. It is imperative for those suffering from illness to get treatments they need and deserve to improve their quality of life. Workplace Health is a fundamental of the Four Pillars. As a principal employer, Bell is committed to leading by example in their workplace and is an early adopter of the voluntary Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. The final pillar in Bell’s initiative is Research. It is predicted that by 2020 mental illness will be the #1 cause of disability on the planet. Without adequate funding, the cutting-edge research that is needed to find cures and explore treatment options won’t happen. A huge amount of the proceeds from BellLetsTalk went to institutions which specialize in research on the mind and mental health.
