Even if you didn’t know that Wednesday was Bell Let’s Talk Day, you probably figured it out soon after you opened any social media platform this morning and saw hundreds of people reposting and sharing the videos and hashtags.

When Bell Media started Bell Let’s Talk and the annual day devoted to it, the goal was to end the stigma around mental illness.

Though the initiative has been around for over a decade, in recent years, the public has questioned whether the billion-dollar company is really prioritizing mental health at all. The controversy was most prominent just weeks after last year’s Bell Let’s Talk Day, when the company unexpectedly laid off hundreds of staff members in a company-wide cutback during a pandemic. This was after collecting over $100 million in wage subsidies from the federal government wage subsidy program, and continuing to pay out regular dividends to shareholders. The company also made some more unfavourable headlines when it was discovered that Bell had an exclusive contract with provincial jails, and made phone calls for inmates prohibitively expensive and challenging to access.

After years of an initiative with the goal of reducing stigma, many spent yesterday questioning whether “talking about it” is enough.

“Annual hashtag days don’t fix years of neglect and inadequate, inequitable care. Not on their own. There are people suffering today who can’t access essential, effective, equitable mental health care and it’s not from a lack of hashtags,” Anna Mehler Paperny, Reuters reporter and author of Hello I Want To Die Please Fix Me, wrote in a thread about the day on Twitter.

OK. You know how I feel about this day. But there are a couple of things I wanna emphasize.

Talking is important. Talking is essential. But

(a) talking, on an individual level, is not mandatory.
(b) talk is not enough.

— Anna Mehler Paperny (@amp6) January 26, 2022

She pointed out how the focus on discussion and raising awareness needs to extend further. “We need to do more research, for sure. But there’s no excuse in the meantime not to provide evidence-based, accessible, equitable, attractive, predominantly voluntary mental health care. People are suffering right now because we don’t. You know some of them,” she wrote.

According to CAMH, mental health care is underfunded by about $1.5 billion in Ontario. Mental illness accounts or about 10 per cent of the burden of disease in Ontario, but receives just 7 per cent of health care dollars.

But mental health professional Bella Pahlevan says that even if we recognize where talking and listening falls short, at least we’re starting a discussion and recognizing how we can do better.

“It’s a great idea,” says mental health professional Bella Pahlevan. “The purpose is to raise awareness and to talk to break the stigma.”

Pahlevan is a psychotherapist at Lite Mind Body Clinic, located just outside Liberty Village. She has been working at the clinic since August, but she has worked in the mental health field for six years. She treats anxiety, grief, depression, personality disorders and even provides couples and family therapy.

She states that this stigma around mental health is what keeps people from reaching out for help.

An August 2021 poll conducted by Mental Health Research Canada states that the largest barrier to accessing mental health services reported by young people (aged 18 to 34) is that they “prefer to manage themselves.”

“Some people might have the idea that they shouldn’t really share what they’re going through with other people,” says Pahlevan, “or that it would mean that there’s something wrong with them.”

That’s why, she adds, it’s important to take any opportunity to talk about the necessity of seeking professional help.

This is especially important now as Ontario comes out of another lockdown. Pahlevan recognizes a correlation between COVID-19 and the demand for her services. Specifically, there is a surge in people seeking help for depression and anxiety. She cites financial strain and layoffs from work as being major contributors, alongside the anxiety of not knowing when the pandemic will end. “We don’t have control over the situation, which creates a lot of anxiety.”

She adds that lockdowns can take a toll on mental health due to “lack of social connection” and couples and families experiencing tension by spending more time together and working from home. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is also common this time of year, adding to symptoms of depression and anxiety.

On the positive side, Pahlevan recognizes more people taking advantage of virtual sessions during lockdown.

“A lot of people might not be able to fit in face-to-face therapy, or because of their work schedule, they find it more convenient to do virtual therapy. It’s really more accessible for everyone.”

While virtual therapy might help tackle some of the barriers of access to mental health services, there’s still much to talk about. Toronto Foundation reports that with the surge of demands, many critical health services face backlogs for up to 22 months long.

Another key barrier reported in the poll was the financial burden young people face in accessing care. One 50-minute session with a psychologist or psychotherapist can cost you an average of $200, a price that is well outside most Torontonians’ budgets.

It’s clear Ontario has a long way to go in building up a mental health care system that fully supports its residents.