COPE is thrilled to be able to work with Mood Disorders Society of Canada (MDSC) this year! We are now a part of their national campaign "The Elephant in the Room".
There is actually an elephant; a plush, blue elephant. The elephant represents stigma caused by the general population simply not understanding what it means to cope with a mental illness. By placing this elephant in your workspace or home, it is suppose to signify that your space is a safe environment to talk about mental health issues. In other words: a stigma-free zone. How clever is that?!
Each elephant costs $20-30 and all proceeds go to MDSC (which is a non-profit organization that provides many support programs and educational programs pertaining to mental health). COPE is aiming to place an elephant in each lecture hall or heavy human-traffic area along with a large poster of an elephant declaring that space to a stigma-free zone. This is ambitious but we are aiming to become the first stigma-free campus nationally!
This is a small but crucial step we hope that in taking, we will help achieve a stigma-free environment everywhere.
It is a blessing to know that mentally ill people, and the people who love them, are not alone in dealing with mental illness.
kraftdinnerelias 3 months ago