Mental health magazine looking for stories from northern Ontario

A magazine about mental health hopes to collect stories from people in northern Ontario who live with mental health issues.

Open Minds is a creative writing magazine produced by Northern Initiative for Social Action, a mental health support group in Sudbury.

The magazine is distributed across North America.

For the first time, it will devote an entire issue to how mental health issues are dealt with in the north.

"We are looking for people who have lived here, [and] people who do live here, and who are in recovery from a mental health challenge or who have survived mental illness, whether it's in the present day or past," said Dinah Laprairie, the magazine's editor.

They also want to know "how the geography has affected their recovery." Laprairie hopes the stories will shine a light on the unique challenges of getting help in the north, as well as the advantages.

"One of the nice ones is our proximity to nature," she continued.

"We're able to get out of the city a bit easier than perhaps somebody in downtown Toronto, who has to travel a lot further distance to be able to experience the healing benefits of nature."

The magazine is accepting poems, memoirs and stories from people suffering from mental health issues, as well as their families and friends.

People have until the end of the year to submit.

http://www.openmindsquarterly.com/portfolio/northern-ontario/