PENTICTON — One in five youths struggle with a mental health issue, often in silence. Rylee McKinlay, 19, wants to shine a spotlight on the subject of mental health.
“We’re so aware of our physical health — we take care of it, going out for runs — but we don’t spend as much time taking care of our minds,” she says.
When McKinlay was 15, she struggled with anorexia for a year. She believes low self-esteem, anxiety and bullying contributed to her eating disorder.
Now she feels in control of what she puts in her body and how she feeds her mind.
She wants to change how people view mental health by taking part in a video that promotes it.
The video is an initiative of the Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Collaborative Committee, a group created by Doctors BC and the Ministry of Health.
The 30-second film shows a group of teenagers sitting on benches and three of them lifts up a mental health disorder, illustrating the statistic that one in five youths is affected by mental health.
Another group involved is the Youth Engagement Strategy (Y.E.S) project, which is primarily made up of teens from the local school district.
Amberlee Erdmann, a Y.E.S. project coordinator, says it’s important young people feel like they can turn to their peers for support without fear of judgment.
“If you’re having an issue that you’re facing with mental health and a peer or a friend is able to say ‘It’s okay, I have a parent who’s experienced this or I have experienced this and there’s help for you.’ There’s so much power in that,” says Erdmann.
The teens in the video declare: We are the generation leaving stigma behind.
A powerful message, McKinlay hopes will soon become reality.
“It’s a message of hope and a message of empowerment because this is the generation that is starting to talk about it.”
The video is being featured before all showings at Penticton’s Landmark Cinema, presented at schools in the Okanagan Skaha school district and aired on Shaw TV all of this week.
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