The founder of the organization "Get in Touch for Hutch" hopes today's Bell Let's Talk Day helps people to be able to speak freely about mental health.
Arthur resident Myrna Hutchinson lost her son to suicide due to mental health issues, and says it's time to bring the conversation out of the shadows so people can easily talk about their feelings, good or bad.
"I think things have come a long way since we lost Steven in 2013. I do feel that shift happening, but just yesterday, I learned about another suicide in a city not too far from us, so there's still lots of work to do," says Hutchinson.
Hutchinson says people sometimes feel they will be judged if they bring up their feelings, but she says everyone has negative thoughts sometimes.
"It's okay not to be okay every single day," she says.
She says life can be big and overwhelming, and can be very difficult in certain situations.
"We need to take down those walls of stigma that surround mental illness, that surround the fact that we feel like we can't talk about the difficult things that we work our way through. And once that conversation starts to flow then we need to help people understand different coping methods to deal with things as they're gong through a difficult time," she explains.
"The first stop would always be to your local family doctor. From the outside looking in it may look like we're not struggling with anything, because sometimes we internalize things a great deal. So this is when we have to find the courage and the strength, even if it's the last little bit that is in us, to make sure that our medical professionals that we're seeking help from are aware of what's going on," Hutchinson adds.
Doctors can refer patients to mental health professionals for support. The Canadian Mental Health Association also offers a number of services.
From a youth perspective, Kids Help Phone is available 24-7 and Wes for Youth offers online counselling .