Mental health experts gather for TVO's Mental Health Matters Week May 7-13

• The Agenda with Steve Paikin welcomes Dr. David Goldbloom to discuss Canada's Mental Health Strategy, plus many more mental health professionals all week
• Big Ideas lecture with Dr. Allen J. Frances May 12 and 13
• Mental Health Matters website www.tvo.org/mentalhealthmatters curates TVO's mental health content including exclusive online videos
• TVOKids and TVOParent.com mental health resources
• North American premiere of Katka, a documentary on addiction 14 years in the making

TORONTO, May 4, 2012 /CNW/ - During Mental Health Matters Week May 7 to 13, TVO, in association with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), will gather some of the brightest minds in the international mental health community for an in-depth exploration of the state of mental health in our society.

The week will feature five nights of TVO's current affairs flagship program The Agenda with Steve Paikin and will coincide with the release of Canada's first ever Mental Health Strategy on May 8 by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Dr. David Goldbloom, chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, joins The Agenda with Steve Paikin for the full hour to discuss the strategy intended to transform the mental health systems in Canada and shape mental health policy and practice across the country.

Along with The Agenda with Steve Paikin, Mental Health Matters will utilize TVO's full digital media toolkit to inform and engage Ontarians in issues of mental health and addiction with a special Big Ideas lecture, documentaries, dramas, kids and parents' specials, and an extensive Mental Health Matters website.

The Agenda with Steve Paikin May 7-13 at 8 pm and 11 pm ET

Monday May 7 - Are There More Mental Illnesses Today or More Labels?  An on-site panel with audience participation recorded May 6 at University of Toronto's Hart House. Guests: Dr. Allen J. Frances, former chair, DSM-IV Task Force; Dr. Kwame McKenzie, CAMH; Edward Shorter, University of Toronto.

Tuesday May 8 - A New Mental Health Strategy for Canada. Will it improve care for Canadians with mental illness? Guests include Dr. David Goldbloom, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, CAMH; David Caplan, former Ontario Minister of Health.

Wednesday May 9 - All Too Familiar: Living with Depression and Anxiety: A discussion about one of the most common forms of mental illness and how it affects more Canadians than any other. Guests: Dr. Roger McIntyre, University Health Network; Dr. Zindel Segal, CAMH; Jordan Peterson, University of Toronto.

Thursday May 10 - Schizophrenia: A Sentence or a Diagnosis?  An in-studio discussion about the most feared of mental illnesses. Guests: Dr. Kwame McKenzie, CAMH; Dolores Malaspina, New York University; Elyn Saks, author of The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness.

Friday May 11 - Speaking of the "Mentally Ill ". How do those with mental illness want to be regarded? Are they patients? Sufferers? Survivors? An on-site panel with audience participation recorded May 6 at University of Toronto's Hart House. Guests: Jennifer Chambers, chair of the Empowerment Council at CAMH; Dr. Thomas Under, Head of Psychiatry at North York General Hospital; Marianne Andoloro, living with bipolar disorder.

Big Ideas - May 12 and 13 at 5 pm ET

TVO's lecture series will present special guest speaker Dr. Allen J. Frances, who will outline why he believes that mental illnesses are being over-diagnosed these days and why he thinks the fifth and latest version of the psychiatrist's bible, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders will lead to millions of people being mislabeled with mental disorders. The lecture will be recorded May 6 at University of Toronto's Hart House.

Mental Health Matters Online

Go to Mental Health Matters online at www.tvo.org/mentalhealthmatters for powerful info-graphics mapping mental illness across Ontario, web-exclusive videos that tell the stories of people who have been affected by mental illness, guest bloggers, live streaming of special Mental Health Matters broadcasts and live chats, as well as catch-up-viewing videos on topics of mental health from The Agenda with Steve Paikin and Allan Gregg in Conversation archives.

Documentaries, Dramas and Films

Documentaries during Mental Health Matters include the North American premiere of Katka on Wednesday May 9 at 9 pm ET, tracing 14 years in the life of a young drug addict struggling to be free of her dependence on heroin. On Sunday May 13 at 10:30 pm ET, War in the Mind, filmmaker Judy Jackson's film about Canadian soldiers living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, returns.

Films and dramas during the week include the feature films Changing Lanes (2002) and Punch Drunk Love (2002) on Saturday Night at the Movies on May 12 beginning at 8 pm, Poppy Shakespeare on Sunday May 13 at 9 pm about a pair of patients at a psychiatric hospital who discover they have more in common than they had imagined. Poppy Shakespeare is also available online on TVO's video player.

Kids and Parents and Mental Health

TVO is using Mental Health Matters Week to equip parents and kids with the tools they need to navigate this important issue and to promote an on-going dialogue around mental health. TVOParents.com features new video interviews with experts on topics including depression, anxiety, and the trauma of racism. TVOParents.com will also feature videos and articles from the 2011 Ontario Public School Boards' Association Summit for Child and Youth Mental Health and other content from its archive.

And TVOKids host Kara and Kids Help Phone counselor Duane will answer emails and calls from kids during My Feelings Matter, a special edition of the TVOKids Help Zone on Monday May 7 from 4-7pm ET live in The Space, TVOKids' afterschool programming block, and then extended on tvokids.com from 7-730 pm ET.

About TVO

TVO is Ontario's public educational media organization and a trusted source of interactive educational content that informs, inspires and stimulates curiosity and thought. TVO's vision is to empower people to be engaged citizens of Ontario through educational media. TVO is funded primarily by the Province of Ontario and is a registered charity supported by sponsors and thousands of donors. For more information, visit tvo.org.

About CAMH

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in the area of addiction and mental health. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.

Where to Find TVO

On air: Cable channel 2 (may vary in some areas) Bell TV channel 265 TVO HD on Bell Fibe TV channel 1265 Rogers TVO HD channel 580 Rogers-On-Demand channel 100 Shaw Direct channel 353

Websites: tvo.org tvokids.com tvoparents.com ilc.org

Online: Yahoo! YouTube Rogers-On-Demand-Online iTunes BlackBerry App World™

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Media Contact for TVO:
Paul Ginis
TVO Communications and Marketing
416.484.2600 x 2445
[email protected]

Contact for CAMH:
Michael Torres
CAMH Media Relations
Public Affairs
(office) 416.595.6015
(mobile) 416.254.5921
(twitter) @CAMHnews