Monday, February 07, 2011

Ottawa women seek to nullify stigma of mental illness

Two Ottawa women have launched a city-wide mental health awareness crusade to break the stigma associated with mental illness. Laura Kidd, 19, and Riley Grace, 21, have created a video that tells their personal stories of trade with mental illness in their families as part of the Royal Ottawa Hospital's "You Know Who I am" video contest.

Their video was inspired, in part, by the catastrophic suicide of 14-year-old Daron Richardson. The daughter of Ottawa Senators' coach Luke Richardson took her own life in November. Heather Badenoch, spokeswoman for the hospital, said the videos produced for the contest have helped many people in the area. "We hear from people that say family members or they themselves have gotten help because of the campaign," she said. "It makes people realize mental illness has come out of the dark shadows and onto the facade page."

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