The Ontario government announced Oct. 4 it is launching Good2Talk, a helpline for post-secondary students, as part of its Mental Health and Addictions Strategy.
Good2Talk is “free, confidential and anonymous” and provides “professional counselling, mental health information and connections to local resources,” according to a government press release.
“It’ll be there 365 days a year, seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities Brad Duguid said. He called Good2Talk “a new service that is going to be very, very valuable and maybe save lives ultimately.”
Duguid said Good2Talk is critical as it will provide every student across the province a place to turn to in times of self-doubt and crisis.
The Ontario government has spent $6.5 million since March 2013 of its $27-million investment toward new mental health services for post-secondary students, Duguid said.
Ekaterina Totina, president of Carleton University’s Student Alliance for Mental Health, said the service is a good idea.
“There are many resources in Ottawa, but still there are not enough to cover the needs of all students,” Totina said.
Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) vice-president (student issues) Gina Parker was optimistic about the helpline.
“I’m not sure how effective it’s going to be starting off but hopefully students will adapt to it,” Parker said. “I definitely think students will take advantage of the service that’s going to be offered but I think we need to be able to advertise for it a little bit more.”
Parker said CUSA only received a small stack of cards and two posters to advertise it. She said there needs to be a substantial amount of resources distributed to the students to fully take advantage of Good2Talk.
Ontario is also supporting 10 new projects at colleges and universities to improve access to mental health services and help identify mental health issues, according to the government press release.
One of these programs was developed by Carleton in collaboration with the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. It will aim to help the schools recognize “at-risk” students and assist them in transitioning from high school to university.
Parker said the program will be in effect next school year.
Duguid said the Ontario government has granted Carleton $640,000 for its mental health program.
“The investment in this is $640,000 over 10 years,” he said. “It’s certainly one of my personal favourite programs because it just seems to be the best in practice.”
