Join the Conversation about Mental Health
By: Brooklyn Ward
Bell Canada Enterprises [BCE]. (2023). Bell Let’s Talk Day Poster. https://letstalk.bell.ca/tools-and-resources/bell-lets-talk-day-toolkit/
By age 40, half of all Canadians will have or have previously had a mental illness and, in any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experience mental health struggles [1]. Youth and young adults especially struggle with their mental health, with those aged 15-24 most likely to experience mental illness and/or substance abuse problems. Similarly, nearly 40% of Ontario high-school students report moderate to severe levels of depression and/or anxiety [2]. Though we have come a long way in recent years, there is no doubt still a stigma associated with mental health. This stigma is perpetuated by society but also comes in the form of self-stigma and can make it difficult for those struggling with mental health to seek out help. In a 2019 survey of working Canadians, 75% of respondents said they would be reluctant or would refuse to disclose mental illness to a co-worker or their employer and the top reason for this was the belief that they would be stigmatized for having a mental illness [2]. In contrast, 76% of respondents said they would be comfortable and supportive if a colleague expressed struggles with mental illness [2]. There is a clear disconnect here and work needs to be done to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and increase awareness.
Bell Let’s Talk is a Canadian campaign with the aim of reducing the stigma associated with mental health by encouraging people to openly discuss mental health struggles and normalize conversations surrounding mental health. The campaign was started in 2010 by Bell Canada, and since has grown to become one of the largest mental health initiatives in Canada [3]. Bell Let’s Talk Day is held in January each year and the campaign encourages people to talk about mental health to break down the barriers associated with speaking out and getting care. To incentivize people to share, in previous years, Bell has donated 5 cents for text, call, and tweet using the #BellLet’sTalk hashtag. This year, they have changed this donation to a lump sum of 10 million dollars [4] (Evans, 2023), which the total amount raised last year of 8.2 million dollars [5]. This may sound like a sizeable amount of money, but this amount is less than 1% of their yearly profits [6] (Forbes, 2022). According to the Bell Let’s Talk website, Bell boasts that it has provided over 1,000 grants through their community fund between 2011-2022 and donated 5 million dollars in 2020 to help address the mental health related support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic [7].
While it is certainly important to work together to break down the stigma that causes people with mental health issues to suffer in silence, we also need to critically appraise the outcomes of this campaign.
First, we need to think about who these funds are supporting.
The money coming from this campaign has gone to fund important projects, especially youth related project. Unfortunately, they have neglected to fund initiatives to improve access to care for certain populations, for example peoples’ experiencing homelessness who experience higher levels of mental illness [8].
Second, it is important to consider what the effects of this campaign are.
Is there evidence that Bell Let’s Talk increases the amount of people seeking or accessing care or reaching out to friends and family? It is difficult say whether the campaign makes a measurable difference as there is limited information available about its impact. This could be a fruitful area for research initiatives and an important consideration for future campaigns.
Third, we need to remember that Bell is a for-profit company.
The company’s campaign fuels social media activism and engages users in discussions about mental health one time a year on a very surface level, using famous faces to sell the message that they are a company that cares [9]. Their campaign is short and not so sweet, and we rarely see Bell promoting mental health initiatives outside of their January campaign. We need to push back against ideas that the Bell Let’s Talk campaign is solely the result of altruism, that Bell just wanted to get Canadians the mental healthcare they badly need. This is not to say that Bell does not have good intentions but, at the end of the day, they are a for-profit organization and charitable giving can be very profitable indeed. As Meg Peters explains, charitable campaigns are especially profitable for big corporations because they have an incredible impact on brand appreciation [10].
Lastly, mental health campaigns need to be backed up by increased funding to services.
It seems irresponsible to promote narratives about speaking up about mental health without addressing the serious issue that remains; many who experience mental illness go without help and there is a lack of resources available for those who need and want them [10]. Normalizing conversations about mental health is a good start, but when someone speak out, where can they turn to? Without adequate resources and consistent funding, this message sells a false narrative that simply speaking into the void about mental health will make it more manageable.
If companies like Bell want to make a real difference when it comes to mental health, they should put their money where their mouth is and continue to invest in mental health services year-round. One campaign is not enough, more support in the form of mental health professionals, accessible services, tailored care for varying populations and continued efforts to de-stigmatize mental health are necessary. This call is not only to corporations like Bell, but the appropriate governing bodies that oversee mental health in Canada, to step up and provide Canadians with the mental health treatment they deserve. We can use our voice, including our online voice, to advocate for better mental health care from government entities that are responsible for ensuring Canadians have the access to care when they need it most. Bell Let’s Talk is the tip of the iceberg, large corporations and those with the loudest voices need to lead the movement of de-stigmatizing mental health. Know the facts, be aware and challenge stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs, provide adequate education and accurate information, include those with lived experience in campaigns and use advertising as a vehicle for change and not as a self-marketing tool. Bell, we’ve talked - and now it’s time to walk the talk.
References
[1] Smetanin, P., Stiff, D., Briante, C., Adair, C.E., Ahmad, S. and Khan, M. (2011). The Life and Economic Impact of Major Mental Illnesses in Canada: 2011 to 2041. RiskAnalytica, on behalf of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
[2] Center for Addiction and Mental Health [CAMH]. (n.d.). Mental illness and addiction: Facts and statistics. https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics.
[3] Vido, J. (2019). A Critical Investigation of Bell Let's Talk (Publication No. 74). Major Paper, University of Windsor. Scholarship at UWindsor. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/major-papers/74/.
[4] Evans, P. (2023, January 9). Bell scraps plan to donate 5 cents per text on let's talk day, will give lump sum of $10M instead. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bell-canada-let-s-talk-1.6708000.
[5] Bell Canada Enterprises [BCE]. (2022). Bell Let's Talk Day 2022 sets a new record for Canadian mental health with 164,298,820 messages of support. https://bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/bell-let-s-talk-day-2022-sets-a-new-record-for-canadian-mental-health-with-164-298-820-messages-of-support.
[6] Forbes Magazine. (2022). BCE Company Overview & News. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/companies/bce/?sh=1e09d10e52c4.
[7] BCE. (n.d.). Bell let’s talk - our initiative. https://letstalk.bell.ca/ourinitiative/#:~:text=Our%20initiative,In%20September%202010&text=Since%20then,%20Bell%20Let's%20Talk,to%20Canadian%20mental%20health%20initiatives.
[8] BCE. (2022). Annual report – community investment. https://www.bce.ca/investors/2021-annual-report/community-investment.
[9] Dhami, H. (2019). Bell let’s talk: a catalyst for support and self-disclosure, or corporate greed? (Publication No. 14662350). Major Research Paper, Ryerson University. Toronto Metropolitain University. https://doi.org/10.32920/ryerson.14662350.v1.
[10] Peters, M. (2017). How Bell Canada capitalises on the millennial: Affective labour, Intersectional Identity, and mental health. Open Cultural Studies, 1(1), 395–405. https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2017-0037.