How To End the Stigma
Employers and Employees
Employers can take the lead with supportive policies by:
- Providing accommodations and return-to-work supports
- Ensuring mental health is considered within workplace practices and benefits
- Promoting psychologically safe work environments
Employees can contribute by:
- Treating colleagues with empathy and respect
- Challenging stigma and stereotypes
- Supporting coworkers experiencing mental health challenges
- Encouraging inclusive workplace cultures
Youth, Schools, and Educators
Schools can help reduce stigma by:
- Integrating mental health education
- Creating safe and inclusive learning environments
- Supporting students experiencing challenges
- Encouraging peer support and empathy
Youth can contribute by:
- Valuing and prioritizing mental health
- Challenging stereotypes
- Supporting one another
Friends, Family, and Support Networks
Create supportive spaces and reduce isolation by:
- Listening with compassion
- Encouraging help-seeking and recovery
- Advocating for loved ones
Community Leaders and Organizations
Support mental health initiatives through collaboration by:
- Promoting awareness and education
- Supporting community mental health initiatives
- Encouraging inclusive policies and programs
- Creating welcoming spaces for all community members
Legislators, Policymakers, and Decision Makers
Drive broader systemic change by:
- Prioritize mental health alongside physical health
- Support equitable access to mental health services
- Invest in mental health initiatives and research
- Protect the rights of people living with mental illness
- Promote anti-discrimination legislation and policies
Get Your Wellness Trunk
EITR Wellness Trunks provide practical tools, resources, and educational materials designed to help schools, workplaces, Veterans, and community organizations.
Become an Ambassador
Ambassadors are embedded in educational institutions, workplaces, and community settings. Their role is to ensure that the perspectives of people with lived experience of mental illness and family members are represented where decisions are made. Through a structured Ambassador network, participants contribute to research initiatives, advisory groups, committees, governance tables, boards of directors, policy discussions, and the design, delivery, and evaluation of programs and services.
What Does an Ambassador Do?
Educate Others
Education is a powerful tool for challenging misconceptions and changing attitudes about mental illness. Ambassadors support stigma reduction by promoting mental health literacy, sharing lived experience stories, participating in awareness initiatives, and creating opportunities for learning and dialogue.
Support Accurate and Inclusive Representation
The way mental health and mental illness are represented in media, storytelling, and public conversations shapes how people understand and respond to mental health challenges. Ambassadors help promote accurate and inclusive representation to help challenge stereotypes and reduce misinformation. This ensures that the experiences of people living with mental illness are portrayed with dignity, respect, and nuance.
Create Stigma-Free Spaces
A stigma-free space is an environment where mental health is valued, people feel emotionally safe, and judgment and discrimination are actively challenged. Ambassadors help foster a culture that encourages empathy, respect, inclusion, and help-seeking while recognizing and respecting lived experiences. This can be a physical public space like workplaces or schools or online in forums and group chats.
Donate
Your support helps fund action-focused initiatives, develop educational resources and support community engagement. Every contribution helps move Canada closer to a future where mental health is understood, supported, and free from stigma.
