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A growing number of youth in Nova Scotia sought mental health support last year from a national helpline that allows young people in crisis to text anonymously with a counsellor.
The figures, released by Kids Help Phone, show more than 8,100 Nova Scotians reached out through its text feature in 2025. That’s a 25 per cent increase from the year before.
The subjects they sought help on were broken down into five main areas:
- Anxiety/stress: 38 per cent.
- Relationship: 34 per cent.
- Depression: 28 per cent.
- Suicide: 25 per cent.
- Isolation: 19 per cent.
Country-wide events planned to raise awareness
Sunday, May 3, is the beginning of Mental Health Week in Canada, and Kids Help Phone is kicking it off with events across the country.
Five-kilometre walks are planned to rally support and raise awareness. The “Walk So Kids Can Talk” event will be held at the Emera Oval in Halifax on May 3.
Matthew Ravida is an ambassador for the event. In 2008, as a teenager, he was reaching out to Kids Help Phone himself after the sudden death of his brother from an overdose.
“I felt like I couldn’t reach out to my parents because they just lost their first-born son,” Ravida said in an interview. “And now here’s their other son who’s struggling.”
Ravida, who lives in Toronto, said while things have improved, there’s still a lot of work to be done to overcome the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
“You do still feel that there’s judgment, especially in your family and friends, and it’s sometimes uncomfortable conversations that you don’t want to have with those individuals,” he said.
“Being able to have someone on the other line, who’s an anonymous person who’s always going to be there, 24/7, whether it’s texts, online chats or calls, kind of gives you the ability to open up more.”
Anonymous support
Ravida said having conversations with the anonymous call-takers at Kids Help Phone can help them prepare for having the same difficult conversations with family members.
Kids Help Phone offers free, multilingual and confidential support 24/7 through its text, messaging and phone service.
If you or someone you know is struggling:
- Kids Help Phone can be reached at 1-800-668-6868 or trylive chat counselling. To use the text service, text CONNECT to686868.
- The Nova ScotiaMental Health and Addictions Crisis Linecan be reached 24/7 first at 902-429-8167, or 1-888-429-8167, or by dialing 911.
- TheNational Suicide Hotlinecan be reached by call or text at 988.
- Talk Suicide Canadacan be reached at 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645 (between 4 p.m. and midnight ET).
- Anyone in Nova Scotia who is seeking mental health services can self-refer through the Mental Health and Addictions Intake Service at 1-855-922-1122 from Monday to Friday (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), as well as Tuesday and Thursday evenings (until 8 p.m.), or online 24/7 throughprebooking.nshealth.ca.For theIWK,intake hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Monday to Friday) and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday).
- FASD Mental Health Toolkit
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