May 10, 2010

This past week was National Mental Health Week, and with a number of events taking place both in our community and across the country, I was happy to participate in a few local events. It was an opportunity for residents to see into the shadows and understand better the lives that are affected by mental health challenges. It was also an opportunity for those living with mental illness to celebrate their journeys of recovery, to connect with other members of the community, and to spend valuable time out of those shadows.

On Friday, I visited the Centre for Mental Health in downtown Kitchener, which is well placed adjacent to the City of Kitchener Speaker’s Corner. As the current Vice President of the Grand River branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, this is the same building in which we have our monthly board meetings. But on this day, I enjoyed cake with many of the community members we serve, and settled in to watch the video “Stand Up for Mental Health.” The program offers stand-up comedy training to those suffering from mental health issues and the founder, stand-up comic and counselor David Granirer, says, “Most people think you have to be nuts to do stand-up comedy. We offer it as a form of therapy!”

We hear often that laughter is the best medicine, but the program we saw is more than that. It offers an opportunity for those that suffer as much from stigma and isolation as from mental illness a chance to command an audience, to be empowered from people laughing with them, and to grow personal confidence and connections. And, since all good comedy is personal, it allowed the comedians to laugh their own fears out of the shadows and to invite the audience into their world.

These kinds of opportunities are good for all of us, because strong feelings of belonging and personal confidence build safer, more resilient communities.