VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - A Vancouver school teacher has reached a halfway mark on his epic journey around the globe to raise awareness about mental health.
Michael Schratter took off on his
"Ride Don't Hide" tour across six continents and 30 countries last August.
Mike spoke with us from Cambodia and says stigma around mental health hits close to home for him. "While at UBC, I had a manic episode. What bothered me at the time was this whole idea of my incident of mental illness having to be something to be ashamed of, something to hide."
He says suicide is the second largest killer of young people in Canada and he wants to see that change. "There is so much misunderstanding and mystery around it. If people actually knew how common it was and how often relatively harmless it is. It's absolutely astounding that something that is so common is still so misunderstood and shamed."
He hopes to raise $40,000 for the
Canadian Mental Health Association, one dollar for every kilometer he travels.