Memories of the day Sarah Mantha鈥檚 world turned upside down come only in fragments.
It was her 26th birthday and a turning point in her life, because it was the day she was admitted to the 91原创 Memorial Hospital psychiatric ward.
Sarah was at church that day and fellow parishioners quickly realized she wasn鈥檛 doing well.
At all.
鈥淚 apparently had a psychotic episode and I was shifting through hypomania and depressive episodes throughout the day,鈥� Sarah said.
At the ward, where she stayed for a month, Sarah was diagnosed as bipolar.
And so began Sarah鈥檚 journey not to recovery, since there isn鈥檛 a tangible cure, but to understanding the bipolar disorder and depression she has lived with since she was 14 years old.
Let鈥檚 Talk
Sarah is among the tens of thousands of Canadians who live with mental health issues.
The in any given year, one in five people in Canada will deal with a mental health problem or illness; roughly eight per cent of adults will suffer from major depression at some time in their lives; and about one per cent of Canadians (that鈥檚 nearly 363,000 people) will experience bipolar disorder (or 鈥渕anic depression鈥�).
Sarah isn鈥檛 hiding her challenges with mental health. Quite the opposite.
She is a Peer Support Worker (PSW) through the, which provides support toward recovery through group learning, workshops, and one-on-one support from a staff member who has personal experience with mental illness.
鈥淲ith peer support work, I support other people who deal with mental health challenges,鈥� Sarah said. 鈥淚 get to share my journey and my experience with them.鈥�
She opened up to the Times about a journey that spans two-and-a-half decades, to help promote Bell Let鈥檚 Talk Day 2018, happening today (Wednesday, Jan. 31). It鈥檚 a day when the public is urged to join the Canadian conversation 鈥� one that is leading the world in confronting the stigma around mental illness, while sharing ideas to move mental health awareness forward.
Bell will donate five cents to Canadian mental health programs for each of these interactions on Jan. 31:
Text and talk: Every text message, mobile and long distance call made by Bell Canada, Bell Aliant and, new this year, Bell MTS customers in Manitoba
Twitter: Every tweet using and Bell Let鈥檚 Talk Day video view;
Facebook: Every view of the Bell Let鈥檚 Talk Day video at and use of the Bell Let鈥檚 Talk frame;
Instagram: Every Bell Let鈥檚 Talk Day video view;
Snapchat: Every use of the Bell Let鈥檚 Talk geofilter and video view.
Crying for Help
Sarah believes hitting rock bottom that day was 鈥渁 good thing,鈥� because she had been crying out for help and not getting it.
She was immediately put on medication to treat her bipolar condition and at LMH, started learning how to deal with her bipolar illness, and not solely depression on its own.
鈥淭here鈥檚 two types of bipolar,鈥� Sarah explained.
鈥淭here鈥檚 one where you go into periods of mania that are higher highs, and more extreme lows.
鈥淭hankfully, I have bipolar II, which is hypomania, so it鈥檚 not so (many) extreme highs.鈥�
Started as a Teen
Sarah has been in and out of the hospital with depression since she was a teen growing up in Moose Jaw, Sask. She managed to go off her medications for three years while she did missions work, post-graduation.
At the time, Sarah thought she had put depression behind her.
But not long after Sarah moved west to 91原创 to attend university, those familiar feelings of fatigue and hopelessness reoccurred. By the end of her third year of university, her doctor suggested she have some blood work done.
If the blood tests came back negative, he told Sarah, he believed that she was dealing with depression again.
This threw Sarah for a loop.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect that,鈥� Sarah said.
鈥淭hat was really a big blow for me because I thought I was fine 鈥� been there, done that, bought the T-shirt and I was out of it. Life was good; I was doing well in university, I was working part time鈥� but as I look back at it now, it was kind of a recipe for disaster because I was doing all that stuff and I didn鈥檛 have a big social circle around me so I didn鈥檛 have a lot of support.鈥�
She was away from her family, living alone in a new province, and knew very few people. As an older student, she missed the connection she would have had with peers in her age group.
鈥淲hen you have mental health issues that are billowing under the surface 鈥� those things can add up and you need to be getting out and doing things and seeing things,鈥� Sarah said.
鈥淭here has to be a good balance of life and I didn鈥檛 have that.鈥�
Sarah鈥檚 health continued to deteriorate, leading to the incident in church.
Eleven years later, 37-year-old Sarah lives with a roommate who has provided terrific support. Her social network is wider than ever before with friends who help her deal with the peaks and valleys that come with living with mental illness.
She continues to lean on her faith as a devout Christian.
鈥淚 remember sitting in my psychiatrist鈥檚 office and him saying to me, 鈥楲ife can be whole again. You cannot have this illness take control of you like it has been.鈥� And I asked him, 鈥榃hen is that going to happen?鈥欌�� Sarah said.
鈥淗e said to me, 鈥榠t鈥檚 not like you have a broken wrist. I can鈥檛 take an X-ray of your brain and tell you how you are recovering. It鈥檚 always going to be there so you have to go through it, day-by-day.鈥欌��
Sarah said the road she travels with mental health is an endless one.
鈥淩ecovery is a journey,鈥� she said, 鈥渘ot a destination.鈥�
troy.landreville@blackpress.ca
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