Every year at the end of January, my social media is bombarded with videos, images, and corporate messaging pushing for a general “awareness” of mental health issues. #BellLetsTalk has become a Canada-wide campaign to raise money for mental health initiatives. By sharing specific Bell Media content, we, the masses can contribute five-cent donations per view of Bell’s yearly mental health video. At the end of that special day in January, the annual ritual comes to a close. Bell Media can, once again, return to its position as an amorphous multi-billion-dollar company. A company whose commitment to mental health stops at the end of their promotional day. Bell media exercises its monopoly on phone services in Ontario prisons, where inmates pay the price. Ontario prisons are subject to predatory practices of price-gouging incarcerated folks. The prisons do not pay the telephone bills but, instead, force inmates to work in prisons for cents at a time to afford to speak to their families and loved ones.
The price-gouging in prisons stands as a stark contradiction to Bell’s so-called commitment to improving mental health issues. As a community, we often lose sight of those in the carceral system. However, we need to shift our understanding of mental health to encompass all people. Incarcerated folks deserve to connect with family and friends. Mental health is materially impacted by one’s conditions and community. Mental health care is not simply sharing feelings and accessing crisis resources. Food security, community care, and housing are material conditions that contribute to all forms of wellbeing, both mental and physical. Incarcerated people already face extreme rates of mental illness. Bell media orchestrates further isolation of incarcerated folks and their loved ones. If we are committed to the project of improving mental health, we must also commit to understanding that giant corporations and the driving forces of capitalistic ideologies are directly impacting those most vulnerable. The dehumanization of those who are incarcerated shows the ways in which Canada oppresses populations that are already marginalized. Yes, it is easy to share a video delivering a sanitized message of improving mental health; however, what is easy is not always what is right. We must divorce ourselves from relying on corporations to pick up the slack of the government in providing resources to those in crisis. Mental health care cannot be accessed through a “like.”