Trustees and student leaders from across Alberta gathered in Red Deer on June 3 & 4 for the Provincial Youth Mental Health Summit put on by the ASBA and Mental Health Commission of Canada.

By Sheldon Spackman

Reducing Stigma

Trustees, students learn together at Provincial Youth Mental Health Summit

Jun 4, 2019 | 6:34 PM

Taking the stigma out of talking about mental health is the goal behind the first ever Provincial Youth Mental Health Summit held this week in Red Deer.

A partnership between the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) and Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA), the HEADSTRONG Provincial Youth Mental Health Summit brought together 440 school board trustees and 135 Grade 9-11 student leaders from across the province to the Cambridge Red Deer Hotel & Conference Centre on June 3 and 4.

Lorrie Jess, President, ASBA, says the event fostered important open dialogue between students and trustees.

“Depression and anxiety are probably two that trustees hear the most about but there are many,” says Jess. “There’s addictions, there’s self-harm, there’s all kinds of mental health issues. The idea of HEADSTRONG is for students that were here, to take this program back to their school and work with their students in what they’ve learned this week, it doesn’t end here, it continues on.”

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Jess hopes communication and talking about mental health struggles becomes more prevalent moving forward.

“We take any student that shows up at our doors and some of them have complex and diverse needs,” explains Jess. “It’s good for trustees to meet those students and not just see the ones that do well on graduation day or academic day and they’re always acknowledged. These students are students as well and their important and need support.”

Nathan Ip, provincial coordinator for MHCC’s HEADSTRONG program, says it’s the only evidence-based youth mental health leadership program in Canada.

“It serves students from 12 onwards and it really is about inspiring young people to not only learn about mental health and understand their own mental health but that they actually have the power to make positive change in their own communities, particularly as it pertains to mental illness stigma,” says Ip. “Stigma is in fact, the number one barrier to people seeking supports for their mental health and it’s pervasive.”

Ip says research has shown that when it comes to mental health struggles, the vast majority of adults report their symptoms began in adolescence.

Timothy Lu, a 15-year-old Grade 10 student from Edmonton attended the summit as a presenter on how to create strong support networks.

“Mental health is truly one of the biggest things that nobody talks about,” says Lu. “We don’t see people saying we need stress rooms for people in our schools who really have to de-stress and get it out of their system. We need to have fidget toys and fidget desks so that people can move about and be active while still maintaining their focus. The truth is, people are dying when we don’t talk about it.”

Faith Trenerry, a 16-year-old Grade 10 student from Brooks, says attending the summit gave her a lot of ideas on how to start new programs and speak to parents and trustees.

“For my peers, I think it’s awesome, cause we all have a different point of view of the world and for us to all sort of see something and learn about it, is definitely a way to think collectively and a way to understand each other better, he explains. “I’m so happy that they did this for the youth. It’s amazing cause without that, I never would have learned all this and I never would have met all these amazing people.”