A student in my French class presented an article about the increased usage of mental health services at McGill. She ended a presentation with an anecdote about how many of her friends fake depression to get longer time to study. The class all laughed and shared stories about who they know that fakes it.The prof went on a tirade about how overmedicated students are and depression is just a fake illness. I raised my hand and pointed out that Quebec has the highest suicide rate and that ¼ people are suffering from a form of mental illness. He rolled his eyes, the class laughed, and he went in a tirade about how students need to buck up and stop being loners (aka, don’t use the Internet).

I suffer from acute anxiety and depression and have been struggling with these for 10 years. I had a bad anxiety attack after class and missed the next couple of his classes. I never explained my absences because I felt unsafe.