As part of Mental Illness Awareness Week in Alberta, the Lloydminster Maternal Mental Health Initiative is hosting a public screening of ‘When the Bough Breaks.’
The documentary takes a look at postpartum depression and along with the screening there will be a panel discussion for people to talk about maternal mental health.
“For the last two or three years we’ve been working really hard to provided better supports around maternal mental health and engage the community in that conversation so that if a family is experiencing maternal mental health concerns can reach out and get the support that they need,” says Lorelee Marin, the Health Promotion Facilitator with Alberta Health Services.
She adds, “it’s been an ongoing conversation and this is just one more step we’re taking in including a broader range of the community to be part of that conversation. It takes the whole community to really make sure people are well supported and that we’re paying attention to our neighbours and people in our family or in our workplace to make sure they know the supports that are available and that they get easy access to them.”
Marin says she hopes for both maternal mental health and mental illness, that discussions surrounding them become more common.
“That we have this as part of our regular conversations around our dinner tables and in our workplaces and that we’re all having empathy and understanding for people who have a mental illness and that we’re strengthening the supports that are available to the them in the community.”
The public screening takes place on Thursday at the Civic Centre, starting at 7 p.m. People are asked to register for the free event online as seats are limited.