 Sandy
Naiman
Sandy Naiman — Biography
Sandy Naiman is a freelance writer, public speaker, teacher and mental health advocate. For more than 30 years, she was on staff of The Toronto Sun where she won several awards for her features. A radio personality- Woman's Editor on CHFI and syndicated columnist on CBC — she has also
appeared on television and freelanced for a variety of magazines.
She has been a member of the honorary advisory council of
Moods
magazine since its inception.
Behind the public persona, Sandy has lived with a serious
mental illness since the age of 12. In 1998, she received
the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s "Celebrity" Courage
to Come Back Award and decided to write and speak out candidly
about living with recurrent episodes of mania. Her story never fails to inspire, give hope and help dispel the prejudice, discrimination, bias and stereotyping often associated with mental illnesses and people who live with them.
Her autobiographical article "Coming Out Crazy" appeared
in the October 1999 issue of Chatelaine. Her speech
about "Corporate Courage" at the launch of the CAMH Centered
on Hope Campaign in 1999 was broadcast on CBC’s "As It Happens
— For The Record."
In October 2000, she presented the keynote
and two breakout sessions at Alberta’s World Mental Health
Day Conference in Calgary. In June 2002 she gave the closing
keynote at the annual conference of The United States Psychiatric
Rehabilitation Association, held in Toronto. In September
2003, she was interviewed on CBC’s “The Current” to critique
the Statistics Canada first-ever national “Canadian Community
Health Survey on Mental Health and Well-being.”
During the
2003 Ontario provincial election, she was interviewed on Global
News and she appeared on the Rogers Media program, “Medical
Intelligence” to discuss the serious crisis in accessibility
of treatment for people suffering with mental illnesses. In
March 2004, she gave two luncheon keynotes at the Conference
Board of Canada’s Workplace Health and Well-being: Strategic
Solutions for Workplace Stress meetings in Toronto and
Calgary.
In May 2005, she gave a keynote on "Wisdom For
Women" as part of a Mental Health in the Workplace series sponsored by the Mental Health Association of Southwest
Ohio in Cincinnati. In October 2005, Sandy addressed the York
University community at Atkinson College. Four days later,
Sandy was the keynote speaker at the fifth annual Jewish Community
Conference on Mental Health in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.
In May 2006, Sandy regaled 250 Ontario government women employees with tales of her adventures at The Toronto Sun, when she was named a "Woman of Influence and Inspiration" by the Ontario Ministry of Government Services. As the conference was during Mental Health Awareness Week, she couldn't resist adding humourous footnotes about managing her mental illness at work.
Sandy was instrumental in launching the Mental Health Works program at the Bottom Line Conference in Vancouver in March 2006 and gave a compelling keynote at the Sixth Annual Lifeways Courage to Fight Back Awards tribute luncheon in Jackson, Michigan in May 2007.
Currently, Sandy freelances for Network, Schizophrenia Digest and several other magazines and her op-ed piece, "Mental Illness is No Crime," appeared in The Globe and Mail in February 2007, shortly after she received the Deloitte Hero Award for her mental health advocacy from the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario.
Sandy contributed a chapter to the McClelland and Stewart
book titled “Beyond Crazy — Journeys Through Mental Illness”
edited by Scott Simmie and Julia Nunes, and published in October
2002. It was named one of the “Best 100 books of 2002” by
The Globe and Mail.
As its spokesperson, two stories about Sandy are featured on the Canadian Mental Health Association's "Mental Health Works" web site. As part of this initiative, Sandy is also featured on two videos designed to help corporate leaders and business managers better treat people with mental illnesses in the workplace.
Sandy was born in Toronto and educated at Seneca College,
Queen’s University, Ryerson Polytechnical University and York
University. She lives in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill with
her husband, screenwriter Martin Lager and their Dandie Dinmont Terriers, Riley—a Canadian
champion—and Lucy, taking her time to become a Canadian champion.
Speech topics
Sandy is an engaging, entertaining and inspiring speaker who also runs workshops on a variety of subjects and tailors her presentations to her audiences. She is very versatile. Among her topics:
- "Coming Out Crazy," an autobiographical and
inspirational keynote [Learn
more about Sandy's life and work and her workplace]
- Mental illnesses in the workplace, what employers can do?
- Language is an instrument for change to heal the sick public discourse on mental illnesses and mental health.
- What should I tell my boss? Mental illnesses on the job.
- What do I say? Returning to work after time off to recover from an episode of a mental illness.
- Dispelling the prejudice, discrimination, bias and stereotyping of mental illnesses and the people who live with them- the best way to help people seek appropriate treatment on the job and off.
- Why should there be a difference between the way people view mental versus physical illnesses. Talking turkey about the real issues.
Sandy Naiman can be reached at sln@sandynaiman.com. |
