BBC News: Show You Care By Signing For Hope
[Written by Jasmine Patterson, Bermuda Broadcasting Co.]
The Bermuda Mental Health Foundation is drawing its month-long, ‘Message in a Bottle’ depression and suicide prevention campaign to a close by inviting people to sign its ‘Canvas of Hope’ at City Hall.
One of the goals of the campaign was to reduce stigma and hundreds of messages stored on USB sticks were distributed across the island; they contained useful information about the symptoms of depression.
Jodi Lewis, Executive Director of the mental health charity, shared feedback from the campaign: “People [in the community] are very interested in the topic. People do want to talk about it [depression], which is actually one of our goals”.
She added: “When we talk about someone taking their own life [as a result of depression], it’s sensitive, it’s something we can’t get around. There’s no polite way to do it, I think we just have to talk about it and deal with it so we can help each other cope and help prevent it from happening in future.”
The Foundation has visited schools to talk to children about mental health and healthy coping strategies.
Ms Lewis said: “We really believe that to prevent suicide, we have to teach them how to be mentally healthy and how to deal with life’s stressors”.
The campaign, which aimed to raise awareness about how suicide can be prevented, sprung from an idea by the Weekenders Running Club.
Islanders can leave a note on the ‘Canvas of Hope’ on display at City Hall, to encourage those suffering from mental illness. Signing started today and will continue through tomorrow [Tuesday].
“You never know who’s suffering, you never know who is going through something,” Ms Lewis told us.
To find out more about the Bermuda Mental Health Foundation, go to: bmhf.bm
Note: Bernews is temporarily helping Bermuda Broadcasting Company by sharing its stories online. The station’s TV equipment is undergoing repair after being hit by lightning.
Persons are in need of help, don,t always see a door open that they can walk through, sit down and receive help. I do hope that posters will be pla ced on community boards as well. There need to be a few community boards in the city. Some may be to over-whelmed with stress to look through a 300 pag e telephone book, some may not have a computer to go to a website, some are not computer literate. Thanks for a great initiative.