Canada’s first lady got real about what she’s had to battle with in the past when it came down to her mental health and self image.
In a video posted to Instagram earlier this week, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau talked about anxiety and having lived through an eating disorder in hopes that others would come forward with stories of their own.
This conversation comes as many across Canada celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week and Month.
“How are you? It’s Mental Health Week and it’s time to share our stories!” she captioned the video.
“Many, many years ago I shared my story of my struggles with eating disorders and anxiety,” Grégoire Trudeau said.
“That was really the beginning of my healing process,” she continued. She also tagged the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) who have been spearheading the conversation surrounding mental health for decades.
“Stories are a fundamental part of being human, and they have the power to bring people together, inspire change, and promote healing,” CAMH commented under her post.
READ MORE: 9 in 10 Canadians want access to free, publicly funded mental health care: poll
This isn’t the first or even second time Grégoire Trudeau has gotten candid with the world.
Earlier this year, she shared a photo of herself from back in the day and asked her followers if the girl in the picture “looked like she was suffering.”
“I was happy and thriving in some areas of my life as a young adult but I was struggling deeply with an eating disorder,” her caption read.
“No one had shown me how to sit with the pain I was dealing with, and I didn’t know I needed help and guidance to better understand the roots of my own suffering. In a world obsessed with appearances, we forget that life unfolds from within and that we all have the opportunity to become more conscious and aware beings.”
Today, she has people counting on her, including her family, which is why she has vowed to keep working in order to become a better version of herself.
Luckily, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, her husband, is on the same page.
“Mental health is health. That’s true this week and every single week. And that’s why we’ll keep working to make sure you can get the care you need – when you need it, and where you need it,” he tweeted on Monday.
And sadly, it seems many Canadians might have a story of their own and are in desperate need of mental health resources.
According to CAMH, almost nine-in-ten agree that people living in Canada should have more support for mental health.
Additionally, a new survey from American Express Canada found that 68 per cent of employed Canadians reported that taking care of their mental health has become more of a priority for them in the last year.
