Photo: Abby Photography

Last Thursday, UBC President Santa Ono shared his story of living with bipolar disorder and having survived two suicide attempts to over 200 residents at Willowstone Academy in Kelowna.



The talk helped raise $50,000 for Third Space Life Charity, which will support the growing demand by UBC Okanagan students for mental health services.



Ono stated that 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental illness throughout their lifetime and that early detection and treatment promises the best outcomes for regaining mental health.



Ono shared the story of how he came to join UBC as president. He explained how his personal and professional lives collided the moment he was spontaneously moved to share his personal story of living with mental illness publicly.



Ono feared that the disclosure of his history of suicide attempts and mental illness would result in UBC’s recruitment committee losing interest in him as a candidate.



It was not the case as the recruitment committee’s interest actually peaked from Ono’s courage and honesty.

He uses his story to challenge the common concern that being open and honest about mental challenges harms one's career or ability to gain success.



Third Space Life Charity raised over $25,000 at the event and through the generosity of a private foundation, this amount has been matched. The combined $50,000 raised will go directly to the Third Space Student Care Program at UBC Okanagan Student Union to build a second team of counsellors to support the unprecedented demand by students for mental health services.



The innovative Student Care Program at UBC Okanagan has provided close to 2,000 free counselling sessions to students on campus in the past two years. The Third Space UBCO counselling team works 6 days a week on helping students seeking support for anxiety, stress, depression, and many other mental health challenges.



The Third Space community care program provided over 350 counselling sessions last year to members of our local community who otherwise wouldn’t be able to access counselling services.