One in five Canadians will experience mental health illness at any given time.
READ MORE: Ontario government invests $140M for mental health services
Mental health blogger Kyla Rose Sims joined Global’s Laura Casella to talk about coping with mental health issues and how it affects loved ones.
“Anybody who suffers from mental health issues knows that there are periods of ebb and flow,” explained Rose Sims.
“My partner was having a really hard time coping with that, so I wrote him this meltdown guide.”
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Rose Sims’ The Meltdown Guide was started last year, and it went viral with over 1.5 million views.
The guide is a collection of blog posts which bluntly explains what goes on during her occasional meltdowns and how she seeks support from her partner, friends and family.
Its honesty and popularity garnered an audience looking for more answers.
“I have to be responsible, and I have to start taking care of these people but I am not a doctor,” said Rose Sims.
She reached out to The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), which nominated her as an ambassador for their #OneBraveNight campaign.
READ MORE: CAMH urges Ottawa to make mental health top priority in new health accord
CAMH is running the cross-country campaign to engage the discussion to eliminate the stigma around mental health issues.
“We’re having the conversations that nobody wants to have,” Rose Sims said.
Rose Sims will be live streaming interviews with people who struggle with mental health illnesses as well as experts offering advice during the #OneBraveNight campaign on April 7.