At ApplyBoard, we pride ourselves on cultivating a workplace culture built around openness and diversity. We want our staff to feel welcome, motivated, and happy so they can produce their best work. However, part of maintaining a healthy workplace is recognizing something that impacts each and every one of us, every single day: mental health.
Mental health awareness has increased dramatically in Canada over the last decade and with good reason. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental illness in a given year. In fact, by age 40, about 50% of Canadians will have had a mental illness. As important as it is to know these stats, it’s incumbent on all of us to address mental health in tangible ways.
Not Myself Today – A Mental Health Awareness Toolkit
The truth is, awareness is not enough. To truly deal with issues surrounding mental health, we need to take action. This is why ApplyBoard has adopted the CMHA’s Not Myself Today program. First introduced in 2013, Not Myself Today has reached approximately 500,000 employees across 450+ organizations to date.
We chose Not Myself Today because it gave us a clearly defined action plan to address mental health in our workplace and allowed our staff to have direct involvement in the process. To that end, an awesome group of leadership and staff members has been elected as ambassadors to help educate our team on what good mental health looks like. Further, this group will teach us how to nurture it in our everyday lives.
Over the next year, our goal is to:
- Build awareness around mental health and illness
- Reduce the stigma around mental health
- Provide staff with the words and tools to talk about mental health in the workplace with compassion and empathy
- Foster a safe and supportive environment for everyone
ApplyBoard’s Not Myself Today program is set to kick off in September with our first staff information session. We’re very excited to get things started! Stay tuned to the Life at ApplyBoard Blog for future updates on our first company-wide mental health initiative.
If you’re struggling with your mental health, visit your local CMHA branch (their website has a great location finder), talk to a healthcare professional, or call one of the following National Crisis Hotlines:
Kids Help Phone
1-800-668-6868
Crisis Services Canada
1-833-456-4566 or text 45645
First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line
1‑855‑242-3310
Centre for Suicide Prevention
1-833-456-4566
Canada Drug Rehab Addiction Services Directory
1-877-746-1963
National Eating Disorder Information Centre
1-866-633-4220
