Some of you may know I have a wonderful teen age daughter, some of you have even met her. She is an awesome girl and I don’t say that just because I am her mom, but she has many great qualities, and it is WITH her permission I write about something important. She happens to think it is important too.

My daughter is a Canadian teen with a mental health issue. We waited a very LONG time to get a proper diagnosis, and now will have to wait an even longer time to get her the services she needs and deserves. In the meantime much of my paycheck is going to private therapy. Here in Ontario, the coverage for many of the services needed are not covered and wait times for community based services after a teen is diagnosed here in Toronto are at least a year long. Those are the facts. These facts as those that surround mental health in Ontario scare me, and they should scare you. When talking to my daughter’s specialist last week I found out here not a SINGLE benchmark is being met, and kids are dying or going unserviced. 1 in 3 Canadian teens who need mental health services NEVER get them.

Does that scare you? It scares me.

Because 1 in 5 teens will have some sort mental health issue, and those who don’t will have a family member with one. That is the reality.

I decided to create an infographic to share the facts and I would encourage you to share the facts too, may they be the catalyst for change. WAIT times need to be reduced, funding needs to be increased. School supports need to be in place. There is much to do.

and now for the FACTS.