National Hockey League

How a Canadian campaign and the hockey community join together to fight mental illness

Published Jan. 27, 2016 5:06 p.m. ET

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We often talk about mental toughness in the sports world. We harp on the abstract idea of the "will to win." We talk about visualizing success and then achieving it, of focusing solely on the task ahead and not letting any outside or unnecessary concerns get to us.

What does it really mean to be mentally tough?

In the sports world, where physicality rules, toughness is visible. It's a player staying on the ice to continue blocking shots after breaking his leg or an athlete vowing to play in the Super Bowl two weeks removed from breaking an arm.

But mental toughness? That's less tangible.

Mental toughness could mean staying positive despite a string of losses or practicing with the same energy every day despite the monotony of a workout. For some, mental toughness simply means getting out of bed.

Every year since 2010, Bell has led an initiative called Bell Let's Talk Day as a way to raise awareness, support and funds to aid mental health resources and research organizations in Canada. Bell uses social media to spread the word, and it donates 5 cents to mental health initiatives for every tweet that includes the #BellLetsTalk hashtag and every Facebook share of the Bell Let's Talk image.

Most importantly, Bell Let's Talk Day starts a conversation about mental illness, an issue that often flies under the radar within society. Mental illness is difficult to talk about. It's hard to see or understand. It's easy to explain a broken leg, but it's not so simple to explain a broken brain.

Then there's the shame, the feelings of inadequacy, the inability to understand why a person suffering from mental illness can't just tough it out and be normal. There's a false perception that mental illness means someone is weak, that someone just isn't "mentally tough" enough to push through it.

Mike Babcock, the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, said in an interview with TSN a year ago that "mental toughness and mental illness have nothing to do with one another."

Hockey players are a perfect example of Babcock's statement. One of the most well-known stories in the hockey world is of Rick Rypien, a former Vancouver Canucks player who battled depression for years before he committed suicide on Aug. 15, 2011.

Rypien was an enforcer, a player known for his toughness. He was not a big guy, standing 5 feet 11 and weighing under 200 pounds, but Rypien was scrappy. He wasn't afraid of fighting anyone, not even 6-7 Hal Gill. But Rypien, like many in this world, battled mental illness.

Rypien's reputation as a fighter might also lead to assumptions about why he faced mental illness. These days, many in the sports world associate depression or anxiety in athletes with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease often found in athletes with a history of head trauma. CTE can cause depression and anxiety or mood changes, but it is unknown whether Rypien had the condition. He passed away before it became more common for athletes to donate their brains to concussion researchers.

But the reason for Rypien's depression does not matter as much as its impact on his life. He suffered greatly, as many in society and in sports continue to do. He was tough as nails, and it did not make a difference. Mental illness is an ugly disease, and nobody --€“ no matter how tough or how rich or how perfect their life seems -- is immune.

What we do know about mental illness is that talking helps and speaking up is necessary. It feels like an easy concept, but talking is more complex than it seems. Nobody knows a person suffers from mental illness until that person says something, but it is incredibly hard to speak up. People with mental illness worry anyway, so adding concerns about stigmas and weakness and even how to start a conversation often make it that much harder to break the silence. Bell Let's Talk breaks down those barriers by giving people a reason and a simple way to open up, either as someone willing to listen or as someone who actually suffers from mental illness.

The initiative also capitalizes on a perfect market and a perfect medium to help get its message across. Mental illness is isolating. It's difficult for people who are impacted by it to do anything, whether that means getting out of bed or driving down the street or going to work or school.

The social media aspect of Bell Let's Talk campaign allows access to those who suffer but can't gather the strength to go somewhere for support. And when someone suffering doesn't feel strong enough to say something on social media, that person can still see others who are open to talking or who want to listen.

Perhaps because of its Canadian roots, the hockey community is maybe the most active among the four major professional sports in embracing the campaign. This support is a key, because not only are random people on social media saying it's OK to talk or it's OK to admit to struggling with mental illness, but people's sporting heroes also are sending this message. A hockey player who might have been in a fight the night before can make a world of difference by tweeting a few words about strength and why those who suffer with mental illness are not weak and should not be ashamed.

On Bell Let's Talk Daay, that message is repeated over and over, which is important to those who suffer. Often, people with mental illness will not believe something the first time someone says it. Similarly, they won't get over a fear the first time they confront it.

Like in sports, overcoming obstacles due to mental illness takes practice --€“ lots of it --€“ and reading messages about mental illness from dozens and dozens of sports heroes is one way to practice accepting that it's OK to talk and open up and a person is not weak just because they struggle with mental illness.

The sports community has shown countless times that it rallies around causes that support people during times of need. But the Bell Let's Talk campaign provides the sports community a unique opportunity to help a huge number of people with a simple Tweet or an image share.

Let's talk.

Arielle Aronson writes about the NHL for FOX Sports. You can follow her on Twitter @aharonson28.

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