Why transitional support is key for youth aging out of mental health services

From the Winnipeg Free Press/Canadian Press–For 29-year-old Kelsey, helping young people in Canada to be happier boils down to helping them find a passion and a community.

“Even if everything else sucked, even if you had terrible mental health, even if the world was on fire — if you had community, if you had people around you, and if you had something you were passionate about, you could make it through,” she said.

But for young people like her who have a mental illness, she said finding that passion can sometimes take a back seat to financial and emotional pressures.

“For me, for a lot of my friends that also have mental illness, that stuff wasn’t dealt with in a timely manner, and it kind of just keeps compounding. And I guess maybe the world hasn’t had a lot to offer to make up for it,” said Kelsey, whose asked not to have her last name published.

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