{"id":20599,"date":"2018-05-10T10:26:39","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T14:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=20599"},"modified":"2018-05-10T10:26:39","modified_gmt":"2018-05-10T14:26:39","slug":"were-all-in-this-together-on-mental-health-week-cmha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/were-all-in-this-together-on-mental-health-week-cmha\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re all in this together\u201d on Mental Health Week: CMHA"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was once a time where Leah Badar would never have considered sharing her story.
\nShe had no self-esteem, says she was afraid of everything and everyone, but, when she reached a low point, she reached out for a helping hand.
\n\u201cBefore the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), I felt like a naked baby in the mouth of a stork who opened its mouth one day and said, \u2018Fly! Have a nice life!\u2019 and it dropped me,\u201d explains Ms. Badar. \u201cI had to get up, dust myself off, and find my clothes. When I ran into the CMHA, I didn\u2019t even know my head from my tail.\u201d
\nMs. Badar\u2019s story is one of abuse and bullying throughout her life, and one she now shares to raise awareness of Mental Health wherever she can.
\nThis week marks Mental Health Week, which runs May 7 \u2013 May 13. As the Canadian Mental Health Association marks its 100th anniversary this year, Mental Health Week is now in its sixty-seventh, dedicated to ending the stigma surrounding mental illness.
\nThroughout this week of raising awareness, the CMHA is calling on the community to \u201ctune into your own mental health needs and #getloud about what mental health really is.\u201d
\n\u201cGetting Loud\u201d is something Ms. Badar had to learn how to do.
\nThe first step, she says, was finding that all-too-elusive comfort level both within herself and within the programs offered by the CMHA.
\n\u201cI couldn\u2019t go on the way I was going on,\u201d she shares. \u201cIt just wasn\u2019t living. Yet, at the time, I had four kids. I was in an abusive marriage and the CMHA helped me with a lot of life skills. I am so lucky.\u201d
\nNow, the mother of five, Ms. Badar has found the foundation of support and confidence given to her by the CMHA has found myriad off-shoot benefits within her own family.
\nMs. Badar says she has battled a learning disability throughout her life and marvels that two of her children are now shooting for their PhDs, while her younger daughter, 16, is maintaining high school marks well into their nineties.
\n\u201cIt gave me more confidence to start believing in themselves,\u201d she says.
\nShe is now using her story, in turn, to inspire confidence inside the clients now turning to the CMHA for support. Ms. Badar is now a member of their Speaker\u2019s Bureau, a public role she never could have imagined for herself. Yet, as she shares her story, Ms. Badar says she finds rewards keep rolling in.
\n\u201cHonestly, just as much as I give, I get back tenfold,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you see people come in so broken, but they begin to trust you and feel safe with you, you see them realise you really care and understand. I have had people who wouldn\u2019t even make eye contact, who wouldn\u2019t talk, who wouldn\u2019t join in a group or nothing \u2013 and now it\u2019s like you can\u2019t shut them up! One came in, was sleeping all day, and was so scared to get a job and didn\u2019t have a hobby. They wanted to go to school and was scared, but now he is doing all that. I volunteer in the peer-run after hours drop in group, and I said, \u2018Had we not had that, would you have done all this?\u2019 He said, \u2018Probably not\u2019 I realised then that I wish I had that kind of stuff when I was going through my own stuff.\u201d
\nShe had been down that road before. Ms. Badar went back to school at the age of 48 to become a Personal Support Worker, graduated with honours \u2013 an accomplishment she is particularly proud of after being in Special Education throughout her previous time as a student \u2013 lost 100 pounds and regained control of her life.
\nWhen she shares her story, she says others can see just what is possible after taking that all-important first step.
\n\u201cRecently, I spoke to [a group] of PSWs and there was one woman who couldn\u2019t believe I understood what she was going through. She thought she was the only one and broke down and I said, \u2018That\u2019s okay. Can I give you a hug?\u2019 It is rewarding to see people start trusting me and opening up. They get comfort knowing that you know. I\u2019ll say to them, \u2018Okay, how can we break this down? How can we make things better? What kind of help do you need?\u2019 I\u2019ll then refer them to all the CMHA has to offer.
\n\u201cBut, first of all, you have to realise that you need help. Second of all, you have to try and help yourself because people cannot do it for you. I have come a long way, but you have to want to help yourself and you have to be willing and open to listen to people, people that you trust, and that you feel safe in confiding in. Don\u2019t give up, it is really worth it. You can live a well-rounded, positive, healthy life.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the Canadian Mental Health Association of York and South Simcoe, visit cmha-yr.on.ca., or call 905-841-3977.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was once a time where Leah Badar would never have considered sharing her story.
\nShe had no self-esteem, says she was afraid of everything and everyone, but, when she reached a low point, she reached out for a helping hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5mf","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 15:16:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}