As first announced last October, longtime TSN host Michael Landsberg has been honoured by the Canadian Screen Awards as the recipient of the 2015 Humanitarian Award for his ongoing dedication to mental health awareness. Landsberg speaks publicly about his personal battle with depression and considers his ability to help reduce the stigma of mental illness as his most important professional calling.

The video above is a look back at Landsberg's continued efforts to promote open dialogue about mental health, and it aired last night at the first gala of Canadian Screen Week, where Landsberg was honoured with the Humanitarian Award. Canadian Screen Week is the annual celebration of excellence in Canadian film, television, and digital media productions.

We spoke with the Off The Record host about the beginnings of his mental health advocacy, how this role has affected his own battle with depression, and what the Humanitarian Award means to him.

You first discussed your own struggles with depression in your interview with Stephane Richer on Off The Record in 2009. But when did open discussion of mental health become a priority in both your personal and professional life?

I can tell you the exact moment. It was 5:32 p.m. on the day that Stephane Richer was on the show. I checked my email, and there were about 20 of them. All of them basically said the same thing: "I watched you and Stephane. You're the first person I've ever told this to, but I'm struggling the way you talked about your struggles and the way Stephane did. I've always been ashamed and embarrassed and I've always felt weak, but I saw you guys talking about it, just normally, and that's given me the strength to reach out to you."

I corresponded with all of these people. We went back and forth, and most of them said, "I'm going to go for help."

And then about a year later, I got an email from a guy, he said, "Michael, you probably don't remember me, my name is Tyson Williams (he's told me to use his name), I live in Saskatoon, and you corresponded with me about a year ago. What you don't know is, I had a belt on a hook in my closet and I was going to kill myself. You replied saying I should get help. I told you I'm beyond help. And you said I haven't even tried. Having gone back and forth between the belt and the computer, I eventually thought to myself, 'You know, that kind of makes sense. I haven't really tried to beat this thing. The next day I went to the doctor, and here I am, healthy.'"

Six months ago Tyson sent me a picture of himself, in a Boston Bruins jersey, with his baby on his lap in a Boston Bruins sleeper.

I told his story on my show on World Suicide Prevention Day. I talked about how amazing it was to see Tyson with his son, living his life, celebrating. He called me after the show and said, "That was awesome, Michael. The only problem is, it's my daughter!"

So, that email from Tyson, that's when it all changed for me.

Once you realized that encouraging open dialogue about mental health could be something that would truly make an impact on people's lives, how did you react?

It was absolutely life changing. I didn't talk about it on OTR with Stephane Richer because I was trying to do something good. I was just trying to ask an interesting question. But it changed my life dramatically to see the impact that my words would have on people. All I had to do was speak. So I started to speak about it more, and write about it more, and I received regular responses from people saying, "Hey, it really helped me just to listen to you."

Then I got responses from people that said, "Flat out, it saved my life." And I look at that with…absolute humility. I'm not a hero – I'm not swimming out into a lake to save someone. All I have to do is talk. Shame on me if I don't. So I now feel the obligation, but also the satisfaction, of doing it. If I went on OTR today and spoke about it, I would get an email or a phone call from someone who said, "Thanks for doing that, you've helped me change my life."

Has all of this changed your personal battle with depression?

It has changed me, but it hasn't changed the illness for me at all.

Most people life their lives in neutral. For example, I host a talk show: I don't do anything good for humanity, I don't do anything bad for humanity. It's just neutral. Then I find out that I have this power inside me, and that's an amazing thing. It's allowed me to attached a positive to probably the worst thing that's hit me. For me, depression is the worst. And yet somehow, it's become the best thing in my life, outside of my family.

You've been a spokesperson for Bell Let's Talk Day, you frequently talk about mental health on Twitter, how much of an impact do you believe has been made?

I think people are gradually, one at a time, reaching out for help. But I think we're 1000 miles away from getting where we need to be. [Mental health challenges] are so damaging because if you don't share with anyone, you can't get help. At a certain point, you can't do it yourself. And there are still so many Canadians who are still too ashamed, too embarrassed, and feel too weak to come out and talk about it. So we have a lot more work to do.

The Canadian Screen Awards has named you the recipient of the 2015 Humanitarian Award. What does this sort of recognition mean to you?

I think for me, the joy of the award is the reaction from people who care about me. My family, my wife and children, and my parents. As a parent, these are things that you can celebrate; things that make a statement to you about your parenting. And how your son has chosen to live part of his life.

The biggest thing, for me personally, has been that reaction. The best thing will be the ability to leverage this into magnifying my voice. Because that's what it's all about: reaching as many people as you can. The bigger the campaign, the better it is.

I have a unique set of circumstances that I believe obligate me to do this. A: I suffer from the illness. If you don't suffer from it, you don't speak the language. And if you don't speak the language, there will always be a barrier between you and people with the illness. Always.

B: I have platforms available to me, and shame on me if I don't use those to make some positive change.

And C: I'm willing to share everything: the insecurities and fears that come with the illness, and the changes they bring on in me. This award will give me another podium to share from.