Targeting all ages, the City of Morden launched a number of events this week to build awareness of mental health.

Monday was a mind-triathlon involving a short walk, yoga, and meditation, Wednesday is an interactive session on how to encourage mental health in children, and Sunday is a worship service with prayer for people with mental illness and those who care for them.

A suicide alertness training event was supposed to be held Thursday evening but had to be postponed due to a lack of registration.

"I think it's important to be reducing stigma against mental illness, as well as promoting positive mental health," said Stephanie Dueck, the recreation programmer for Morden.

This year for Mental Health Week, the Canadian Mental Health Association is urging Canadians to "GET LOUD for mental health".

A CMHA press release announced that "GET LOUD" is the theme for the week. "It means taking action and using your voice to raise awareness and build support. For someone at work. For someone at home. For yourself."

Jordan Friesen, executive director of CMHA Central Region, explains that one out of every five people in the region will go deal with some kind of mental illness this year.

"This means that all of us will likely know someone who could be struggling. People need the right supports and services to recover, along with a community that is open and accepting," said Friesen.

Morden's four events during Mental Health Week were designed specifically to appeal to a wide array of people, hence the events themselves are all quite distinct from each other.

Dueck hopes the events will provide resources for people to better understand their own mental illness, or help people around them cope.

"I hope [people] know that, as a city, we care about mental health and want our citizens to be healthy mentally and physically," she said.

"This is something we should all care about."