Rooted is all about the people and the places that make us proud to call our community home.
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It’s been called the “Best Pixar Movie in Years” (Forbes.com) and it currently has a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes (Rottentomatoes.com) and Malinda Hirvilammi says there are a lot of great correlations represented in “Inside Out 2” and dealing with mental health.
Hirvilammi is the Health Promotions Coordinator at the Canadian Mental Health Association, North Bay and District (CMHA NBD). She was recently a guest on an episode of “To North Bay with Love” with Lisa Boivin and she talked about how “Inside Out 2” is bringing the conversation of mental health to the forefront.
"It’s been a really interesting vessel in bringing out the conversation around mental health awareness, reducing stigma, and acknowledging our own emotions and how they can impact our lives,” Hirvilammi said. She explained how the film, which centres on Riley, a young girl entering adolescence, presents emotions in a relatable way that makes the topic more accessible to people of all ages.
Hirvilammi noted how Inside Out and its sequel introduce the importance of understanding and recognizing emotions at a young age. “I watched it with my children, and it was a very positive, impactful experience," she said, praising how the films can help families start conversations about emotions. "Introducing these emotions and how they impact our wellness is important in building mental health awareness and understanding.”
Although the films primarily follow Riley’s journey through childhood and puberty, Hirvilammi emphasizes their relevance to adults as well. “What happens in the movie can be transposed to any life event for anybody despite their age. Whether you're selling your house, moving to a new location, starting a new job, or losing a loved one, we all face moments where emotions guide us.”
One of the key additions in Inside Out 2 is the introduction of more complex emotions, including anxiety, jealousy, embarrassment, and nostalgia, which Hirvilammi feels are highly relevant. “These emotions, especially anxiety, are often seen as negative, but they serve a purpose. Anxiety is there to protect us, to notify us to keep an eye out, or plan for the future. It’s part of our daily lives, and when managed properly, it can push us in a positive direction.”
Hirvilammi stressed that one of the biggest challenges around mental health is the stigma that still exists, though she is hopeful for progress. “We all come from different backgrounds, and some of us carry shame, denial, or fear about sharing that this could be something that’s happening to us. But the fact of the matter is, it’s something we all share. We all have mental health. Some of us may be living with mental illness but you can live with mental illness and have positive mental health. And similarly, you can experience negative mental health without having a diagnosed illness.”
Hirvilammi says often helping someone feel heard and not alone adds positively to their mental health and wellbeing. A good example that connects back to the movie is how quickly when things are feeling like they're going wrong and those negative feelings and symptoms as a result continue
to snowball to the point where you start feeling down. Often recognizing “I need to do something about this” and making a simple self-care move like talking to a friend can help alleviate that.
She shares that talking about mental health openly is critical to fostering resilient and mental health-positive communities. It also makes it less of a stigmatized subject. In the past, people didn’t have the support to process their trauma and feel safe about talking about their mental health. Today, there are more opportunities to be open and to share our experiences which is a large part of mental health awareness. When people talk about how they are feeling, their struggles, and the things they’ve gone through, it helps make others feel safer to get help for their mental health.
At CMHA NBD, Hirvilammi and her team work to provide that support through various services. "Our local programs are geared towards what the community needs are," she said, explaining that the organization has four main pillars of programming: peer support, addiction treatment, supportive and specialized housing, and mental health support services.
Since housing is one of the main programs, CMHA NBD often receives inquiries from individuals looking for housing. Hirvilammi explains, “We do get a lot of questions about that, and housing is in such demand, need, not affordable and continuing to get worse. With regards to the services we provide, CMHA North Bay and District owns and operates various supportive housing buildings within the community that are geared towards individuals who are already receiving support services and living with a mental illness. They receive additional support through our housing success program to ensure that not only are their health needs being met, but other risks that could impact their housing are mitigated too.”
Hirvilammi has been with the organization for 15 years and she says what she loves about her job, is that she gets to do something every day that is important to her.
“Mental health has always been something that's important to me. I describe myself as someone with lived experience. I have family members who are diagnosed with a mental illness. Statistically one in five Canadians is living with a mental illness and I always say if you’re not living with it, chances are you care about somebody who does, so it's just something I've always been passionate about, and once I got into the field that passion to help people was just a very rewarding experience.”
Hirvilammi says that people who are interested in utilizing their services can call the main line at 705-476-4088. She says, “You will be directed to our Central Access department, and they can have a conversation with you about your needs, and possibly do an intake screener to determine whether we have services that are suitable for you. And, if we don't, it's helpful that they have the expertise to be able to direct you to programs within the community. Alternatively, there are a lot of provincial and national programs now that you can access from home that are available virtually or over the phone. It’s a really good starting point for anyone who thinks that they might need some support with their mental health and don’t know where to start.”
A great question Hirvilammi often hears and engages individuals around is how people know when they need help with their mental health. She responds, “Our perceptions of ourselves and our journey to what mental health and wellness looks like for each individual is unique.
If you're experiencing symptoms that are impacting your daily living, your ability to go to your job, maybe you're isolating from your friends, you have increased symptoms of anxiety that aren’t going away, or you're lashing out. You're just not yourself. I think that would be a good indicator that maybe it might be a good opportunity to reach out and see where you can go from there.”
If you have a story idea for “Rooted” send Matt an email at [email protected]
