By Azka Zia
Mental health continues to gain increasing focus among mainstream and ethnic media, with the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Dr. Carolyn Bennett recently emphasizing the need to raise Canadians’ mental health literacy. A search through CBC’s website brings up more than 50,000 results for mental health, with the majority of articles on government mental health funding, resource accessibility, and the impact of the pandemic on psychological wellness. However, the experiences of immigrants and refugees, who make up 23% of the Canadian population, are largely missing. These need to be represented to develop a cohesive and inclusive mental health policy.
Mainstream media tend to cover mental health issues broadly, while ethnic media provide a more specific focus on the unique challenges faced by different ethnocultural communities, such as bullying, racial abuse, limited mental health resources in schools, lack of support for racial trauma, and newcomer struggles. Zee TV Canada, a Punjabi news channel, provided two-time coverage for the celebration of Pink Day, which aims to combat bullying. The radio channels CMR FM 101.3 Tamil Morning and Canadian Tamil Broadcasting Corp (CTBC), as well as Zee TV Canada and Urdu website E Awaz, reported extensively on government mental health funding for Black communities.
The issue of race was also highlighted by PTC North America’s coverage of mental health services funding in Ontario, which emphasized Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s commitment to funding marginalized groups such as racialized and Indigenous people. Similarly, the Filipino newscast of OMNI News reported on homelessness in Calgary, citing a 2022 report indicating that the city has almost 3,000 homeless people, half of whom are newcomers to Canada, including Ukrainians who initially received support but have now been left to fend for themselves.
Ethnic news coverage reflects the unique anxieties of these communities. Talking about psychological wellness is still stigmatized in many ethnic communities. OMNI TV Focus recently featured a segment on elder abuse within the Sikh community. Anandita Joshi, project coordinator for the Sikh Health Foundation, noted that the issue is often not openly discussed due to concerns about social stigma.
Language barriers, lack of information about available resources, and bias all play a role in hindering individuals’ access to the resources they need. During the Punjabi newscast of OMNI News, Jasmeet Chagger, founder of SOCH Mental Health, discussed the importance of raising awareness about the dangers of gambling in the South Asian community. According to Ajaypal Singh, Community Ambassador for South Asian Gambling Harm Awareness, gambling is a significant problem in this community. Efforts are being made to create a plan to provide information and education, as well as initiate conversations to let people know that they are not alone. Importantly, a medical study has reported that, due to barriers to accessing mental health resources, refugee and immigrant youth are more likely to end up in the emergency room during a mental health crisis than their Canadian-born peers.
There needs to be a collective effort from all stakeholders, including ethnic media, mainstream media, governments, and community organizations, to promote cross-cultural understanding and actively remove the stigma around mental illness. This includes improving diverse coverage in media and increasing representation of ethnocultural communities in mental health policy-making.
Furthermore, the institutionalized oppression in the system must be diligently confronted. The recent accusations of racism by a group of Black federal public servants working on establishing a governmental mental health fund for Black public servants highlight the need for more than just mental health literacy, but rather a systemic effort to address the root causes of racism and oppression.
We must work harder to ensure the stories and perspectives of underrepresented groups are heard in discussions of mental health policy. We have to increase empathy for their experiences and continuously ask ourselves: Is there enough diverse coverage on our country’s diverse population? There needs to be a concerted effort to create a more inclusive and empathetic mental health system that addresses all the cultural nuances of Canada’s diverse population.
Mental health continues to gain increasing focus among mainstream and ethnic media, with the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Dr. Carolyn Bennett recently emphasizing the need to raise Canadians’ mental health literacy. A search through CBC’s website brings up more than 50,000 results for mental health, with the majority of articles on government mental health funding, resource accessibility, and the impact of the pandemic on psychological wellness. However, the experiences of immigrants and refugees, who make up 23% of the Canadian population, are largely missing. These need to be represented to develop a cohesive and inclusive mental health policy.
Mainstream media tend to cover mental health issues broadly, while ethnic media provide a more specific focus on the unique challenges faced by different ethnocultural communities, such as bullying, racial abuse, limited mental health resources in schools, lack of support for racial trauma, and newcomer struggles. Zee TV Canada, a Punjabi news channel, provided two-time coverage for the celebration of Pink Day, which aims to combat bullying. The radio channels CMR FM 101.3 Tamil Morning and Canadian Tamil Broadcasting Corp (CTBC), as well as Zee TV Canada and Urdu website E Awaz, reported extensively on government mental health funding for Black communities.
The issue of race was also highlighted by PTC North America’s coverage of mental health services funding in Ontario, which emphasized Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s commitment to funding marginalized groups such as racialized and Indigenous people. Similarly, the Filipino newscast of OMNI News reported on homelessness in Calgary, citing a 2022 report indicating that the city has almost 3,000 homeless people, half of whom are newcomers to Canada, including Ukrainians who initially received support but have now been left to fend for themselves.
Ethnic news coverage reflects the unique anxieties of these communities. Talking about psychological wellness is still stigmatized in many ethnic communities. OMNI TV Focus recently featured a segment on elder abuse within the Sikh community. Anandita Joshi, project coordinator for the Sikh Health Foundation, noted that the issue is often not openly discussed due to concerns about social stigma.
Language barriers, lack of information about available resources, and bias all play a role in hindering individuals’ access to the resources they need. During the Punjabi newscast of OMNI News, Jasmeet Chagger, founder of SOCH Mental Health, discussed the importance of raising awareness about the dangers of gambling in the South Asian community. According to Ajaypal Singh, Community Ambassador for South Asian Gambling Harm Awareness, gambling is a significant problem in this community. Efforts are being made to create a plan to provide information and education, as well as initiate conversations to let people know that they are not alone. Importantly, a medical study has reported that, due to barriers to accessing mental health resources, refugee and immigrant youth are more likely to end up in the emergency room during a mental health crisis than their Canadian-born peers.
There needs to be a collective effort from all stakeholders, including ethnic media, mainstream media, governments, and community organizations, to promote cross-cultural understanding and actively remove the stigma around mental illness. This includes improving diverse coverage in media and increasing representation of ethnocultural communities in mental health policy-making.
Furthermore, the institutionalized oppression in the system must be diligently confronted. The recent accusations of racism by a group of Black federal public servants working on establishing a governmental mental health fund for Black public servants highlight the need for more than just mental health literacy, but rather a systemic effort to address the root causes of racism and oppression.
We must work harder to ensure the stories and perspectives of underrepresented groups are heard in discussions of mental health policy. We have to increase empathy for their experiences and continuously ask ourselves: Is there enough diverse coverage on our country’s diverse population? There needs to be a concerted effort to create a more inclusive and empathetic mental health system that addresses all the cultural nuances of Canada’s diverse population.