Virtual Coffee Break Series on Diversity and Inclusion, featuring Noah Irvine

Coffee Break hosted by SAMPE Canada, CKN, CACMSA and CREPEC. In this session, Noah Irvine, Author (Learning to Live: From the Loss of My Parents to Mental Health Advocate) discusses mental health through lived experience.

Biography: Noah Irvine’s life has been anything but “normal.” When he was five, his mother died by suicide. When he was 15, his father died by prescription drug overdose. In childhood, he witnessed domestic violence. He has a learning disability which impacts every aspect of his life. He experiences complex PTSD. These are the facts of his life. These are the circumstances he learned to live with. These experiences made him the person he is today.

Not surprisingly, at a young age, Noah encountered Canada’s mental health and addiction system. As he grew up, he discovered the system was in crisis long before he was born. He learned that while politicians readily acknowledge the crisis, few are willing to take the bold steps needed to provide Canadians with the mental health and addiction services they need. So, he took a bold step in Grade 11.

He launched a national campaign to encourage politicians at all levels – federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, and across all political parties — to work together on the issue. He quickly discovered that the biggest obstacle to improving mental health addiction care is political partisanship. Politicians from all parties agree Canada has a mental health and addiction crisis, but the willingness to work together is lacking. Noah’s message to politicians is simple: put Canadians first. Give them the health care they deserve. In other words, step up and do better!

Noah writes about this in detail in his book, Learning to Live: From the Loss of My Parents to Mental Health Advocate. Book sales support the Lesley Irvine and Kent Martin Memorial Scholarship” at his high school.