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Terezia Farkas, International Bestselling Author
I’m Terezia Farkas. International bestselling author, Huffington Post regular contributor, and columnist of Depression Help. I’m an advocate for depression. In October, 2017, the Honourable Lois Mitchell, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta awarded me the Alberta Lieutenant Governor's Circle on Mental Health and Addiction certificate for excellent work done to strengthen outcomes and quality of life for people living with mental illness and addiction.
I've been a Bell Let’s Talk Social Media Ambassador 2017. My passion is to create change in how mental health issues are dealt with and break the stigma surrounding depression. I've worked with researchers to improve settings in hospital Emergency Rooms to make the experience less stressful for families accompanying kids who've attempted suicide, to improve staff interactions with clients, and get community support services involved so a person isn't released and then left out in the cold with no idea of what to do next or where to turn for help. Emergency Rooms are usually the first place someone suffering with depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, or anxiety gets actual treatment. It is sadly also the last time many people with mental illness get treatment. If you're not a threat to yourself or anyone else, you're released with a pharmacy prescription. You may be given the name of a mental health professional. But usually there's no followup, and no immediate access (within 2 weeks or less), to a mental health professional.
I’m also the Alberta CDRIN Hub Lived Experience Lead. As a person with lived experience of depression, I bring my experiences with depression and the health care system to a table of mental health researchers, professionals, and community health organizations. Several ideas I brought forward have been used by Alberta's SPOR Patient Engagement Unit. A patient registry I helped design is now in use in Nova Scotia, Canada.
I was nominated for the 2017 Canada 150 for 150 CAMH Difference Makers recognizing 150 inspiring Canadians for mental health for Canada's 150th birthday.
I believe the journey is more important than the destination. Live. Laugh. Love. You choose the order.
I suffer with severe depression and anxiety (can anyone honestly say, “Never been anxious?”) I tried to commit suicide multiple times. I’ve self-harmed. None of these actions are fun, easy to choose, or looked back upon as a great experience. But I did learn from them.
I learned not to judge others. You never know what luggage someone is carrying. A smile doesn’t always mean a happy person. I learned that while it’s okay to feel scared and afraid of the future, it’s also okay to ask for help.
It took years to rein in my suicidal thoughts. I originally wrote my book “Heart Of Love Evolution” as a farewell letter. I realized I had chapters of advice on surviving suicidal thoughts, why you matter to the universe, and how your best friend is yourself. By then my words had sunk into me. I published my book and it became an international bestseller.
I was invited to attend the 2014 Global Crisis of Depression Summit offered by The Economist at Kings Place in London, which included notable speakers Kofi A Anan, the 7th former Secretary General of the UN, and Alastair Campbell, former press secretary for British Prime Minister Tony Blair. I’ve been quoted in The Globe & Mail, The Express Tribune, and Outlook India. Minnesota Public Radio News, the Boston Globe, CBS, FOX, ABC, and KHQ. I created Action on Depression, a campaign raising funds for the Canadian Mental Health Association.
In 2016 I was invited to become the Alberta CDRIN Hub Lived Experience Leader. As the LE Leader, I started the AB CDRIN Hub newsletter, got a Lived Experience and Researcher forum going, and began a relationship with Active Minds. An LE Lead needs good communication skills, because it means listening to LE community and researchers and seeing where the two groups can help each other. I was a navigator, bringing the two groups together in partnerships. I was an outreach facilitator, forming relationships within the LE community on mental health projects.
Depression is a tough, rough journey. I want anyone suffering with depression to know you’re not alone. Someone else is hopeless, struggling in the darkness. Before I found my tribe, the people who support me, no one else admitted to being depressed. No one was talking about depression. I believed I was the only person in the entire world who felt so hopeless, so angry, and so despairing. The first time I knew I wasn’t alone was the Bell Let’s Talk special, with people like Clara Hughes and Michael Landsberg talking about being depressed. Hope is real. It exists for you. Just find it.
You can contact me through Twitter, Facebook or my website. You can also visit me at DEPRESSION HELP and on the HUFFINGTON POST.
Being active in mental health happens in daily living. Speak out when someone mocks a depressed person as lazy. Stand up against bullies and abuse. Talk about depression, with the person who is depressed and too scared to ask for help, and with the person who thinks talking about depression makes it worse. Be there, giving hope and support whatever that may look like, to the person who’s thinking about suicide.
Canadian born award-winning author Terezia Farkas grew up in Alberta. She became a published author early in her teens. Terezia was a high school biology teacher for ten years in Edmonton, Alberta. She is a second-degree Usui reki practitioner, a psychic medium, and a channeller.
Terezia earned her two degrees, B.Sc. Psychology Specialization and B.Ed. at the University of Alberta, Canada.
Terezia is available for interviews and other guest appearances.
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You may contact Terezia Farkas direct by leaving a message below.
You may contact Terezia Farkas direct by leaving a message below.