Sudbury's Open Minds Quarterly is changing the way we discuss mental health

Ella Myers, the editor of Open Minds Quarterly, says her magazine all about creating a space for people with mental health challenges to express themselves creatively.

The literary magazine, which has been publishing since 1998, features poetry, fiction, essays and art, with each issue devoted to a specific theme — the summer issue focused on queer stories, while the fall issue is expected to be about dreams. 

Its contributors all share one thing: a lived experience with mental health challenges.

"I think there's a lot of misunderstandings about mental health and madness and what it means to be a part of this community," Myers said. "One of the goals is to just sort of increase understanding and reduce stigma, reduce discrimination."

"I think it's really important to create opportunities for people to develop their writing as a craft. So this is a very specific way for them to do that in relation to their lived experiences."

Myers, who has been editor for two years, said she's impressed with the following the magazine has amassed in its 20 years. 

"We're bizarrely well-known across Canada, in the United States," she said. "I guess word got out in the radical mental health movements and Mad Pride, which is a movement that sort of seeks to reclaim the word 'mad' and find pride in it, and reframe it."

Myers, who said she has dealt with her own mental health challenges, said she's becoming increasingly aware of how language can frame people's approach to handling mental health.

Personally, she steers away from saying "mental illness," preferring "mental health challenges," which she feels is more inclusive. Others have reclaimed the word "mad," she said, and find that empowering.

"A lot of people have been given diagnoses or sort of been pigeonholed," she said. "By reclaiming the word it's a way for people to say 'I'm not what the label says it is.'"

Even if the person still identifies with the label, recognizing the word is a step in the right direction, she said.

"I think for a lot of people, especially who might have had the word 'crazy' aimed at them in a really hurtful way or been called things like 'psycho,' saying 'I'm mad and I'm proud of that or I'm okay with that or that's a part of who I am,' it can be really empowering."

Myers said the organization's main focus right now in increasing its local presence. To that end, they plan on launching issues — virtually — and ensuring it has a place at local businesses. 

"Since we started that, the feedback has been incredible," Myers said. "A lot of people didn't know we existed. And I think a lot of people who are locally involved with other mental health initiatives or other literary initiatives are really excited about the chance to connect with us."