YELLOWKNIFE - One in five Canadians will experience a mental illness over the course of a one-year period, according to estimates by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Such illnesses include depression, seasonal affective disorder, panic disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and GNWT's Health and Social Services had a booth at the mall celebrating national Mental Health Week with information and cake on Feb. 6. From left to right: Sandy Little, a consultant with the Health and Social Services' mental health division; Sandra Beaton, executive director of the NWT branch of the CMHA; and CMHA President Kathryn Youngblut. - Jessica Klinkenberg/NNSL photo

"We're breaking down the barriers, (bringing) it out of the darkness," said Sandy Little, a consultant on mental health with Health and Social Services.

Mental Health Awareness Week helps erase the stigma that dogs mental illness, said Sandra Beaton, the executive director of the NWT branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).

"Because we're a small jurisdiction we don't have some of the resources (like the south)," Little said.

"We always need more resources. We advocate for more resources, especially in the smaller communities," said Kathryn Youngblut, president of the NWT CMHA.

However, Northerners are more accepting of the importance of physical and mental health, she said.

"The culture of the North is willing to discuss balance," Little said.

This draws on the aboriginal belief that mental health is tied in with spiritual and physical health, she said.

"They will look at mental well-being as being part of (overall health)," Little said.

Beaton said people often have misconceptions of what a mental illness is and how much it affects a person's lifestyle.

"A look - a lot of people think it has a look," Beaton said.

"Last year...a helping professional made a comment that we don't have a mental health consumer here (at our display). I shook her hand and said 'What makes you think we don't?'" Beaton said.

There are also challenges in the NWT which can contribute to mental illnesses.

"Isolation is one. It can be its own (problem) or it can also compound other ones," Youngblut said.

Health and Social Services has clinics all across the NWT where people can go for help with personal and mental health issues, Little said.

CMHA offers a 10-week program called Friends, which helps children understand and address anxiety and stress.

"Children can't put into words how they're feeling. They just know how their bodies feel," Beaton said.

"They're hoping that it will prevent anxiety or depression (when they grow up)," she said.