Tonight, nearly a thousand people will gather in Vancouver for the ICBA Gala, to celebrate B.C. construction and to hear guest speakers Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana.
One of the themes we will discuss with Terry is mental health. Obviously, this has been a focus of ICBA’s for more than two years now, and Terry’s work to break down the stigma around mental health has been admirable.
In 1999, he was diagnosed with depression, and he reached out to a pastor for help. “It’s hard for me to put into words the horrific feeling of being depressed. It is the most sickening feeling in the world when you believe you are miserable and you’re all alone. I was drinking a lot, and I didn’t like the path I was on. I was frightened by what might happen. I wasn’t sure if I was going to drink myself to death.”
By asking for help, Terry started a process of accountability, and psychological and medical intervention. Today, medication and self-care have turned his life around: “When you’re clinically depressed the serotonin in your brain is out of balance and probably always will be out of balance. So I take medication to get that proper balance back. I’ll probably have to be on it the rest of my life.”
We can’t say enough about Terry’s willingness to open up – he’s an inspiration to all of us.
Each week, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman reflects on what we’ve learned as we participate in ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program. ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program is helping more than 90 companies and nearly 10,000 construction professionals better understand mental health. This program is free for all ICBA members – check out icba.ca/wellness for details.
