The Mental Illness Awareness Week blog, sharing stories of recovery, personal experiences, and mental health/mental illness news.

7/21/10

OPEN CASTING CALL - Manitoba


Hello MIAW friends and supporters.

2010 Face of Mental Illness Dr. Ted Jablonski is busy preparing for his 2010 SAD no more Canadian Tour this fall when he will cycle, run and speak across Canada to raise awareness about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and inspire action to overcome it.

Ted needs your help!

Do you, or someone you know, have Seasonal Affective Disorder and want to share your story?

Be a part of Ted’s video project to raise awareness of SAD

If you live in Manitoba and want to share your story about living with Seasonal Affective Disorder, email and we will put you in contact with Ted to be part of his 2010 Sad no more tour video project.

OPEN CASTING CALL! Seeking – Male and Female participants, of any age, with Seasonal Affective Disorder, currently living in Manitoba. You don’t need to be a professional actor, just a real person, playing yourself and speaking honestly in your own words.

Find out more about Ted’s tour at www.SADnomore.ca

Thank you for supporting Ted and MIAW!

Dr. Ted Jablonski: SAD no more tour: Countdown to Departure!



2010 Face of Mental Illness, Dr. Ted Jablonski is about to kick off his SAD no more tour!

We wanted to share his message and ask for everyone's support in getting his message out. Please share this page with your friends and help us raise awareness of seasonal affective disorder and support Ted in his bike across Canada!

Hi everyone,

First of all, a big thanks for your ongoing support and involvement. We are truly grateful to all of you for your hard work on our behalf. Now the real FUN begins!

The SAD no more Canadian Tour 2010 start is less than 2 weeks away. The first event is a pre-tour promotional/educational event occuring at Fort Street Cycle in Victoria on Thursday July 29, 2010. There will be some education about SAD and inspiring talk as well as a silent auction of bikes and cycling accessories, tour merchandise and "dr j" musical memorabilia. Thereafter a bit of final preparations and the tour will start on August 1st at Mile 0.

The website is fully updated, all social media has been going for a while and a daily blog will be started very soon. TOUR SCHEDULE is now well displayed so no confusion about where I will be on any given day, the google map system will be deployed as the tour actually starts moving.

I am fully relying on each and every partner to promote this tour with the energy and excitment that it deserves.

Depending of the event, this is a unique opportunity for physicians, allied health care workers and the public to learn more about Seasonal MDD (SAD), hear a motivating story from an excellent and inspiring speaker :) and be part of a national Tour. There is much to be learned about this poorly understood mental health issue and hopefully many questions will be answered about the practical "nuts and bolts" of the condition. For the media, the story is much the same. This is an awareness to action campaign and in the broadest sense, public awareness of how to get started in making changes to improve overall health (physical and mental) and essentially be SAD no more. Akin to getting physicians out to CME events, the media will need cajoling, coaxing, prodding, etc to pick this up and hopefully everyone is up for the challenge of pushing hard to get the story out there.

Monique and I have been preparing for this tour for 2 years and you must know that much sweat and tears (not much blood has been shed yet) has gone into this project. We rely on you all to relay our dedication and enthusiasm to everyone "in the field" so that we can continue to gain attention and momentum as the tour kicks off and gets going across the country.

Thanks

Dr. Ted Jablonski, 2010 Face of Mental Illness

7/19/10

Filmmaker starves himself for three months



D'Arcy Mann starved himself for 100 days to raise awareness of the serious effects of mental illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia.

During the 100 days of this stunt, D'Arcy would limit food to half an apple for breakfast, a can of tuna for lunch, and the other half an apple for dinner.

"The 100 day project won’t likely change any minds of those who already have the anorexia demon inside them, as they often rationalize their behavior and lash out at anyone who tries to convince them otherwise. But I do hope it reaches out to people in the early stages and convince them that it’s just not worth it. Similarly I hope that people who have rationalized being overweight or even obese will take an introspective look and consider how they’re shortening their lives."

Visit D'Arcy's blog to learn more