Starting college or university is a huge milestone that comes with many stresses.

The pressures of choosing the right career and living on your own for the first time often become too overwhelming and many students start to experience signs of mental illness.

Crystale Comeau is a first-year social service student at Cambrian College and suffers from anxiety and depression disorder. Her symptoms began seven years ago at the age of 17.

"In the beginning, I thought I was just getting sick because I was always tired," she said. "I kinda pulled myself away from my friends and I didn't want to talk to anybody."

Comeau turned to drinking and partying as a way to cope with her depression, which ultimately made the situation worse.

"I didn't want people to know. I tried to function as normally as I could, but after awhile I just couldn't do it anymore."

It wasn't until just recently that she decided to seek help - now she meets with a counsellor at the college once a week.

"It really helped me understand and tell people what I suffer from and that I'm just the same as everybody else."

Cambrian College student Crystale Comeau suffers from anxiety and depression disorder, which forced her to isolate herself from her friends because she was afraid of the stigma associated with mental illness. Photo by Heather Green-Oliver.

According to the Canadian Institute of Health Research, one in five Canadians will experience a form of mental illness at some point in their lives. That means that every Canadian has a family member, friend or colleague coping with a mental illness.

As part of the national Bell Let's Talk Day on Feb. 8, volunteers at Cambrian set up activities and handed out information brochures in hopes of breaking down the stigma associated with mental health.

Susan Alcorn MacKay was one of the event organizers and says most people that suffer from mental illness are afraid to talk about it for fear of being judged.

"You'll talk about having a cold, the flu or having cancer, but you won't talk about having bipolar, depression or obsessive compulsive disorder," she said. "It's something that, as a society, we need to change."

For more information on mental health issues and help services visit www.camh.net.

Posted by Arron Pickard