Breagh’s 100km for Mental Health

Thanks for visiting the fundraising page for my 100km Bike Ride in support of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)!

On my 33^rd birthday (June 12), I will be biking 104km in support of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). My main goal (aside from raising money for a great and underfunded cause!) is to bring awareness to the issue and work towards ending the stigma. Wouldn’t it be great if people were to openly talk about their mental health just like they do about their physical health? Taking medication for a broken leg is encouraged but taking medication for your mental health can be frowned upon and an awkward subject to discuss openly. 

Mental Health affects many people and it affects people differently, in ways like feeling overwhelmed by small tasks, feeling emotionally/mentally burnt out, having social anxiety, panic attacks, mood changes, etc. I’m convinced that everyone is affected by mental health at some point in their lives. I started having bad anxiety in the summer of 2014 and it was made worse by some big losses that I struggled with. COVID and all the other issues happening around the world (civil/human rights issues, environmental etc.) brought me to the point that I knew I needed help dealing with it. I was extremely grateful to have such strong supports in my work and personal life, but not everyone is so lucky.

According to Statistics Canada, ten (!!) Canadians on average die each day from suicide, and of the 5.3 million Canadians who reported needing help managing their mental health in 2018, nearly half had their needs either unmet or partially met. For Canadians without a regular health care provider, the numbers of those with unmet or partially met needs are higher. That’s not good enough and we need to do better. With donations, CMHA is able to bring additional awareness to mental health, provide training, fund essential programs and critical research and much more.

Please feel free to donate to this cause so we can make some small steps forward together. If you aren’t able to donate, that’s okay too! You can help in many other ways, like reaching out to a friend who may be struggling.

The link below is just one local example of why things need to change:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/n-b-teen-s-death-exposes-shortcomings-of-public-mental-health-supports-in-canada-1.5328512

Thank you so much for your support in my 100k bike ride for mental health!