Career and work
Upshall studied law at the University of Toronto and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1969. He practiced law until experiences with mental illness brought that career to an end in the early 1990s. [1]
He subsequently became a prominent figure in Canadian mental health policy and advocacy. He served as National Executive Director of the Mood Disorders Society of Canada, co-founded the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health and the Canadian Depression Research and Intervention Network, and later worked as a senior policy adviser to both the Mood Disorders Society of Canada and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. [1][2]
What has been publicly discussed
“You can’t change the world on your own. It takes real leaders to model anti-stigma behaviours and talk about mental illness.”
— Phil Upshall [5]