Stamping out ignorance and bolstering empathy toward people suffering with mental illness is what of a new program started by the Canadian Mental Health Association--Central Region (CMHA) is trying to achieve.

It's called MILE5 (Mental Illness Literacy and Education--5 Day), and for the past month, the CMHA has been working in schools, educating young people about mental illness and showing a little bit of what it's like to live with a mental illness through first-person testimonies and creative exercises, like trying to hold a conversation with someone incessantly whispering in your ear to simulate schizophrenia.

"The main goal is to increase mental health awareness, reduce stigma, and encourage students who are dealing with mental illness to seek help," said community educator, and MILE5 instructor, Brent Robertson.

Robertson, A Winkler-ite, tours schools within the Regional Health Authority (RHA) of Southern Health-Sante Sud offering the evidence based program to one class for five days. The program is bookended by two mental awareness tests to determine a student's knowledge before, and after the sessions.

"MILE5 represents a strong option for school divisions to consider when looking for ways to incorporate mental health and wellbeing into the education of students. It fits well with the strategic priorities of the many school divisions and allows CMHA Central to make a real impact on the lives of youth in the region," said Jordan Friesen, executive director of CMHA Central Region.

Students at Northands Parkway Collegiate in Winkler (NPC) were most recently visited by Robertson. One young woman, Teresa Janzen, shares her experience.

"We've been learning how a lot of people have mental illnesses. There's always this stigma and this view that people with mental illness can't be trusted or they aren't accepted by society. We have to learn to understand where they come from, understand what they're going through, and just be there for them," she said.

Janzen, and a few other students, said that empathy was what everyone needed most, particularly when it comes to mental illness.

"I think that's one of the goals of the program, to build empathy," said Joe Voth, physical education and health teacher at NPC.

"I think that when students exhibit empathy, there will be more willingness for people suffering mental illness to share and talk about the struggles they have."

Delivery of MILE5 has been scheduled for Garden Valley, Western, Hanover, and Prairie Spirit school divisions before the end of the current school year with delivery in another seven school divisions beginning in the fall.