National Network for Mental Health President, Jean Beckett, announced today, that Joan Edwards Karmazyn has decided to resign from her position of National Executive Director of the NNMH at the end May 2012.  Joan, who is planning her retirement from the mental health field will not be totally disappearing from our sights though, as she plans to stay involved and connected with the field in general and in particular with the psychiatric survivor movement as she stays engaged with various programs and projects and especially with the National Network for Mental Health, providing support and advice as needed.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank Joan for her leadership and management experience and for her passion in advocating for her peers who live with mental illness. It has been an honour and privilege to work with Joan as we, at the NNMH continue to strive to build strong stakeholder partnerships individually and collectively to embrace the vision of seeing mental health become the foundation of total health for all Canadians.

Welcome to the National Network for Mental Health website. It is my sincerest hope that you  find the information you see here to be both informative, and inspirational.

The National Network for Mental Health is a unique national organization that has a "grassroots" history and approach.  It is the only non-diagnostic mental health consumer/survivor organization that is national in scope and service in Canada.

We, as an organization, are 100% consumer/survivor driven. This means that all of our board members, voting members, and most of our staff, are mental health consumer/survivors. As an organization, we believe networking to be based on the principles of inclusion and informed choice and we respect each person's individuality as we work together to find "common ground".

Our organization began as the Canadian Mental Health Association - National Office's "Consumer Participation Task Group" in the 1980's and became independent in 1991, changed its name to the National Network for Mental Health and became incorporated in 1992. More than 15 years after incorporation, we have seen government support come and go, and still we remain strong because of our commitment to each other, our peers, and the national consumer/survivor movement.

Through that same time period, we, as an organization, have developed working relationships with businesses and organizations from the private and public sectors, government - both federally and provincially, and with hundreds of individuals who have been good enough to volunteer their time.

The National Network for Mental Health has developed from having no staff to 25 full-time staff. At times, we had no office to call our own, and presently we have 8 offices across the country, four project sites that have been divested and are thriving, and as time moves on we continue to prosper and grow.

As we pass through time, we see only a positive outlook for our organization and those we represent. We see a promise that the Canadian consumer/survivor community will become empowered by equality, respect, policy input, informed choice, inclusion, and ownership of our own lives.

National Executive Director

Our New Vision

We live in a nation that nurtures the mental health and well being of all its citizens, where diversity is celebrated, and where those who experience mental health challenges live free from discrimination, and are respected, and supported in their recovery journey to be fully included, productive and valued members of society.