Spotlight put on mental health

Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis recalls the most terrifying experience of his life happened when he was in university.

“It was October 1978 and I was a third-year law school student at Queen’s in Kingston,” Davis said. “I was with friends watching a hockey game when it hit.

“My heart was racing, my mind was racing. I felt like I was dying.”

His friends, thinking Davis was having a heart attack, took him to the hospital emergency room.

The good news?

He didn’t have a heart attack.

The bad news?

At 24 and a year away from graduating law school, Davis had suffered a major panic attack.

“It was an ambush,” said Davis, who will share his experiences during KickBack, a 12-hour televised special on Rogers Cable 20 on Jan. 21, also known as Blue Monday — the name given to a day in January claimed to be the most depressing one of the year.

“I was used to the anxious feeling you get when heading into an exam or some stressful situation.

“But this, this was something completely different.”

The doctor gave him medication, which, Davis said, helped him get to class. The doctor also suggested Davis visit student services to arrange for counselling.

Davis took the meds.

But he didn’t immediately go to student services.

Instead, he endured a couple of smaller panic attacks in the following weeks. He didn’t want to leave his apartment for fear of having a panic attack in class or in public.

He finally decided to get counselling.

“Of course, I put on dark glasses and a hat,’ Davis said of his first visit. “I’m really quite fortunate that Queen’s had an excellent counselling service back then.

“I was able to talk to a counsellor and get the help I needed.”

It was there that he learned a technique called progressive muscle relaxation, which he still uses now.

“I was given a cassette tape and the announcer walked me through it,” Davis said.

“Basically, I’d tighten up every part of body starting with my head, hold and then release it.

“I felt kind of drained at first but gradually I got better at it and now I still use it through word association.”

Elected to his first term as mayor in the Oct. 22 municipal election, Davis was born and raised in Calgary. He earned a degree in economics at the University of Calgary before heading to Queen’s for his law degree.

Called to the bar in 1981, Davis came to Brantford for a job interview at Waterous Holden Amey Hitchon. He became partner at the firm two years later.

Davis shared his 1978 experience with The Expositor in support of KickBack, a local initiative that tackles mental health issues.

“I think what I’d really like to stress is that people who are struggling with mental-health issues, whatever they might be, ought not to feel ashamed,” he said.

“I also want to encourage people to seek out help.

“Is our mental-health system perfect? No. But help is available and I hope people who are having issues, whatever they might be, get assistance.”

Organized by the Millennial Network Group Brantford in co-operation with Rogers Community Television, KickBack will bring together people of all ages and backgrounds to share their stories of mental-health challenges. Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide and substance abuse are among the topics to be covered.

Representatives from local social service organizations also will be featured during the program which is in its second year.

“We felt it was important to do KickBack again this year because combating the stigma of mental health is most effective when we challenge it by uniting our community,” said Aidan Grummett, a co-organizer of the event.

“Having frontline workers and brave individuals share the raw reality of mental illness helps reduce the stigma and encourages people to reach out for help.”

Matt Joniec, who participated in the event last year, said he is delighted to be part of it again.

“It was pretty awesome to engage with so many individuals who have lived experiences and see them empowered by sharing their story in the hopes of one day eliminating the stigma,” said Joniec, who will again serve as one of the hosts.

“I was over the moon happy to be a part of that.”

There will be 11 different hosts for the program, which begins at 9 a.m. and finishes at 9 p.m.

“Following last year’s KickBack we heard numerous stories of families watching the marathon while having dinner who experienced openness and conversation around personal struggles with mental illness that had never been shared before,” said Ben Strasser, another host and organizer of the event.

“We want to encourage those conversations to continue, so that we can eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness.”

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