Bell Let’s Talk Day
Bell Let’s Talk Day (January 21, 2026) is a day dedicated to moving mental health forward in Canada by promoting awareness, acceptance, and action in mental health. The theme for 2026 is taking a moment for mental health. The Campus Well Being team encourages staff and students to prioritize mental health and give mental health the moment it deserves by:
- taking moments to take care of and be in tune with your own mental health
- taking moments to reach out to those around you, caring for their mental health
- taking moments to recognize the importance of talking about mental health to reduce stigma
One way we can start to prioritize mental health is by recognizing stigma still exists and often talking about mental health can be difficult. To create a safe space for those you care about to discuss mental health issues without being stigmatizing it can be helpful to consider the language we use.
Person First Language
Person first language focuses on the individual while putting less emphasis on the illness, disability or condition. Using it can help to show respect for the individual as a person. A great example of this is “a person who lives with depression” rather than “a depressed person”.
Here are some other examples of language choices for discussing mental health issues (Bell Let’s Talk Conversation Guide, 2024)
| Empowering Language | Disempowering Language |
| Person with a mental illness | Mentally ill |
| Person experiencing mental illness | Victim/suffering |
| Person experiencing mental health symptoms | Crazy/wacko/lunatic |
| Do | Don’t |
| Put the person first | Refer to people by their illness |
| Become informed about mental illness | Be judgmental |
| Speak up about stigma | Let jokes or misinformation go |
Do you want to learn more about Bell Let’s Talk Day and how you can take a moment for mental health? On January 21, 2026, you can find the Campus Well Being team at both the Notre Dame and Exchange District Campuses with great information and resources, Bell Let’s Talk Day Swag, and some special guests…the SJA Therapy Dogs!
NDC – T Building Common Space, 11 am to 1 pm
EDC – Atrium, 11 am to 1 pm