Canadian Free Press Release Service

The first MentalHealthCamp Toronto (MHCTO) explores the possibilities of using social media to assist in erasing the stigma of mental illness. Building on the experience of the international HealthCamp movement and the first MentalHealthCamp in Canada held in Vancouver in 2009, MHCTO takes place on Friday May 28, 2010 at the Bram and Bluma Appel Salon in the Toronto Reference Library.



MHCTO will use an ‘unconference’ approach -- where the agenda is based on the attendees’ interests. MHTO will be attended by mental health professionals, people with lived experience of mental health issues, family members and friends of loved ones with mental health concerns, social media enthusiasts (e.g. Facebook™ and Twitter™ users), and people with a passion or an interest in the topic.



Anne Ptasznik, who has worked in mental health for over 15 years, was eager to organize a mentalhealthcamp after attending HealthCamp Toronto, an unconference about the future of health care 2.0 led by the Health Strategy Innovation Cell at Massey College. "At HealthCamp, I saw how social media brought together health consumers, physicians and other health care professionals for informal, lively discussion that used to take us years to achieve in our mental health planning efforts," she says.



"Some people said about MentalHealthCamp last year that it was ‘life changing.’ One reason may be that the transparency that is such an important part of social media had a healing effect on participants,” says Isabella Mori, one of the organizers of Vancouver’s MentalHealthCamp. “People who deal with mental health issues almost always need to look over their shoulder because someone just might call them ‘crazy.’ To be among people who routinely speak publicly about difficult issues, and who often shared their struggle with mental illness was a great relief.”



Gemini award winner Rick Green will join in the discussions and provide some entertainment for the day that will be filled with a lot of serious discussion. Green’s most recent project, the Global TV documentary ADD & Loving It?! with actor Patrick McKenna, won him the CAMH 2009 Celebrity Transforming Lives award.



Other organizers include Madalyn Marcus, a York University graduate student who is active as a researcher, clinician, and mental health advocate, psychiatrist John Strauss, and HealthCamp Toronto organizers: Carlos Rizo and Rob Fraser of the non-profit Innovation Cell at Massey College in the University of Toronto. Rizo is a globally connected ‘e-patient’, a physician-researcher, and Innovation Cell team member who has co-authored some of the seminal work on e-patient empowerment published in the British Medical Journal and elsewhere. Fraser is a nurse, an emerging leader in social media in nursing education (nursingideas.ca), and an Innovation Cell Fellow-at-Large.



The goal for MHCTO is to ignite conversations around how to use social media to promote better mental health for all and help improve the lives of people with mental health challenges. One out of five Canadians will experience mental illness in their lifetimes. The total economic burden of mental illness in Canada in 2003 was roughly $51 billion, according to a study published in the journal Chronic Diseases in Canada.



Date: Friday May 28th 8:30am to 4 pm

Event Price: $25

Location: Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, Toronto Reference Library; Second Floor 789 Yonge St. (Bloor & Yonge)

MHCTO Website: http://mentalhealthcampto.org/



Media Inquires Contact:

http://www.skylarentertainment.ca/



MentalHealthCamp Toronto Sponsors:

Anxiety Disorders Association of Canada

B Sharp Technologies Inc.

DECODE

HInext

Innovation Cell

Maureen and Gregory Colford

Sentillion® A Microsoft Company