I was in the Toronto airport last year (October 2023), en route to Moncton for company meetings. A few colleagues and I were chatting and waiting for the crew of our flight to arrive so we could get going.
I heard a familiar voice. Looking around, I saw Michael Landsberg talking with someone. After their conversation was done, I summoned my courage to go say hello and thank him for speaking about mental health.
I wanted him to know that he is being heard.
Most people who know his name know him from his sports reporting past. He was with TSN since its inception and hosted the sports talk show “Off the Record” from 1997 to 2015.
He was one of the founders of #SickNotWeak, a Canadian charitable foundation with the message that depression is a sickness, not a weakness.
That is what people need to understand. People who have depression aren’t lazy. They can’t just “cheer up”. It’s a disease that needs treatment and empathy.
He was very gracious and kind and seemed pleased that I spoke to him. It was all I could hope for.
He deserves a lot of credit for trying to change the narrative. I constantly tell people depression’s an injury or illness that you cannot see. It doesn’t mean it’s not real. If it wasn’t real, why would doctor’s prescribe drugs? It’s real, folks. And it has nothing to do with someone’s will to “just be happy” or “think positive.”