A Bit About Us
Working to Raise Awareness and Push Change Around Youth Mental Health
Across the modern world, the mental health of youth is at a tipping point and is in a crisis. As countries and cities continue to improve all other aspects of life for people why is it that the youth, the generation of tomorrow, is not being taken care of as much? Without looking after the youth and their mental health today, think of the implications that it will have on us tomorrow. Even though there are resources for the youth across the city to access, both in most schools and out, there is a lack of education about mental health and a lot of stigmas. Stigma that we work to break down.
The YMHM Canada was founded in May of 2020 and works to raise public awareness around mental health disorders and challenges in accessing services and help for youth while working to push our governments to do more for the mental health of youth.
The YMHM Canada is by youth and is for youth and their mental health.
Our Goals
Youth Mental Health March Canada is achieving more with our initiatives than ever before. We work on many exciting projects to help improve the lives of others, and are very proud of the progress we continue to make. Learn more about the goals that drive us and what we hope to accomplish.
To raise awareness and break the stigma around poor mental health and mental illnesses in youth
The YMHM Canada is committed to breaking down the stigma around poor mental health and mental health disorders in youth and will continue to work tirelessly to make sure that barriers are broken down every single day.
To advocate for better mental health resources and access to these resources for all
Through our events and raising our voices, we aim to push government bodies to do more in their support for mental health resources for youth, and to help provide better access to these resources not only for the people that can afford it and/or that can get to it easily, but for everyone.
To raise funds for youth mental health services and mental health awareness
The YMHM Canada is dedicated to raising funds that help continue to raise awareness around youth mental health and providing services to youth to help better their mental health.
To help people envision a world where the mental health of everyone is taken as a top priority
The YMHM Canada wants to envision a world where the mental health of youth and everyone is taken as the top priority. All of our events and work focus around this to ensure that this happens and that we get closer to this reality.
A Message from the President
Advocacy Born from Experience
The YMHM Canada is a community association that I founded in May of 2020 after personal experiences with struggling mental health and suicide. After seeing that there was not much easy access to resources to help youth and seeing other struggles as well as little awareness for the mental health of youth, I decided that I was going to do something about it.
After not seeing a lot of action being taken to help youth and seeing the statistics in the youth population in our country, something had to be done about it to make sure that these numbers change. Numbers such as about 4000 deaths by suicide happen in Canada each year. Furthermore, of these, about 90% had a mental disorder at the time of death that could have been treated and the person helped. Of everyone who has/had depression or anxiety, 49% of these people will never see a doctor about it. As we look more into the youth population of this country, the numbers do not seem to get better at all. With youth suicide rates accounting for 24% of all deaths aged 15 to 24, Canada’s youth suicide rates are the third highest in the industrialized world. Of all of the youth in Canada, 1 in 5 will have experienced a personal mental health crisis or mental illness in their lifetime and only 1 in 5 of these people will get the help that they need. Across this country, every day, 3.2 million youth are at risk for developing depression and other serious mental health illnesses and not enough is being done to stop it or help prevent it.
Without looking after the youth and their mental health today, think of the implications that it will have on us tomorrow. All of these numbers will only rise if nothing is done today about it. It is because of this that we fight today and every day to end the stigma and raise awareness about youth mental health and all mental health disorders in youth. Together we are going to get loud about what really matters most!