The City of Banff will host its first-ever Mental Health Week, which aims to fight against the stigma of mental illness in the Bow Valley.
Makayla Rogers struggled with her mental health soon after moving to Canmore from Australia in 2016.
“Mountains are some of the most beautiful things you can lay your eyes on and that gives me a lot of hope,” he said. But it was so isolated, it felt like everything must be great because the mountains look so good,” Rogers said.
During the flight he was desperate to be released over the ocean, but this excitement was quickly tempered by the spreading pain, which became more severe.
“I felt lonely. I was struggling with childhood trauma. I was struggling with suicidal thoughts every day,” he said. “I had no one I could talk to… I felt completely empty, like I had no substance or identity.”
Rogers spent most of his first year in Canmore alone in his apartment, working remotely. They were seeing a therapist but didn’t trust them and didn’t know where to turn for community support. Makayla decides to create her own safe space in an unlikely place: a donut shop.
“The donut circle feels very symbolic to me, it feels like community, it feels like coming together, and we’re better when we’re together,” he said. “It feels like wholeness from my healing journey from trauma, I’m coming out as non-binary, I’m able to be my full self,” Rogers said.
Rogers and his wife started Frankie D’s Donuts. This business extends far beyond just delicious dishes, but also serves as a way to connect with other people through live experiences, donuts and discussions. Rogers is now helping to bridge the gap he once felt and many others still feel in the Bow Valley.
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“For a lot of people here, it’s their first time away from home and mom is away a lot,” said Margie Smith, site administrator at Banff’s Mineral Springs Hospital. “Food security, housing security, friends, the deep connections that people have at home, those are some of the really challenging ones, they’ve lost that,” Smith said.
And while Smith said the Bow Valley has ample resources to help people struggling with mental health issues, they often don’t know how to deal with them.
“The concern is growing, what we’re hearing from our community is that they don’t know where the resources are, and we’re trying to change that,” said Lori Bayne, community board chair of Banff Mineral Springs Hospital.
Starting May 6, Banff is hosting its first Mental Health Week, putting all of its tools in the public eye. Dozens of events are planned across the city including coffee with RCMP officers, community dinners, group discussions with experts, activities for children and seniors. The hope is to get people connected and more importantly, get them talking about mental health.
It was the idea of Banff resident Dr. Shakeel Amin after suffering a mental health crisis.
“I did not choose this journey. I have been put on this and I have to go through this journey, I have no way out of this journey,” said Amin, whose life came to a halt in 2016 with the death of her 5-year-old. -Old son after a three-year battle with cancer.
Troubled by the trauma and crippling post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, Dr. Amin spent most of the month bedridden and stopped practicing medicine.
“I feel like a failure as a professional, a failure as a father and a husband because my job is to protect my family,” he said. Medicine – It was swept away by her son’s trauma.
“Inside I was saying I’m a man, I can handle this, I’m a doctor, I know sometimes you don’t have control over your mind, there is help out there, I absolutely love my patients. This is what I would tell if they are going through this situation, there is help, there is medicine for it, but not me myself.
After three years he finally decided to take his own advice and bravely reached out to help. He said no matter who you are, where you come from or who you’re dealing with, he wants others to know they’re not alone. She hopes Mental Health Week will be a starting point to reduce stigma and get people on a better path.
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