Michael Landsberg remembers the pain he could see in Stephane Richer's eyes the minute he asked him the question six years ago on TSN's Off The Record.

Richer, his guest that day, had earlier disclosed that he battled depression and anxiety through much of his 20-year NHL career. Asking Richer if he wanted to open up about his struggles, Landsberg kicked off a conversation that would become a personal mission.

The 57-year old had struggled with depression as well and when he and Richer spoke openly about their challenges, the veteran TSN commentator discovered that he had a chance to make a difference in the lives of many others.

"The response was amazing," said Landsberg. "There were so many emails from people that saw it. And that's when my life changed."

Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in Canada, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. In any given year, one in five Canadians experience issues with mental health or addiction, CAMH reports.

And while his family and close friends knew about his pain, Landsberg never thought to share with the general public.

"I never talked about it on TV because I, 100 per cent, thought no one would care," said Landsberg. "But I can say that after that first talk, I changed about 15 lives and saved at least one life."

He's also become active on social media and opens up about his daily struggle with more than 62,500 followers who reach out to him through the Twitter handle @heylandsberg. 

"It's changed everything about my life," he said. "Except for my illness."

Aside from social media, Landsberg also takes on speaking opportunities and is a spokesperson for the successful Bell Let's Talk campaign, broadening the initiative's reach.

"How can a jock or a sports guy like Michael also have a mental illness?" said Mary Deacon, chair of the Bell campaign, in a recent interview. "It challenges perceptions about what a person with mental health issues is like, which is key to combatting stigma."

While Landsberg says he loves the work he does with other organizations, he's also looking to take his work one step further by expanding on his popular #SickNotWeak hashtag to create a new initiative, SickNotWeak.com.

He also wants to bring the same kind of attitude and swagger he displays on OTR to mental illness in order to differentiate himself from other organizations. 

"If I could bring that to mental illness, then I think the message will be heard a million times better than the usual serious tone," Landsberg explained. "I don't want to create something that is like all the rest."

The advocate wants to touch multiple groups including teens, veterans and first responders as well as aboriginal peoples whose situation he believes is tragic.

"I want the tone of the website not to be you are suffering, it's we are suffering," Landsberg said. "I think it's really important to distinguish between the other sites that are out there that tend to inform you about your illness whereas I want this to have many dimensions."

Landsberg also wants to eventually produce do a television/podcast type show, create a speaker series with athletes who suffer and have #SickNotWeak appear on merchandise like clothing and bracelets. 

"There are far more people that need to be helped that don't suffer from the illness than do because there's far more people who don't suffer," said Landsberg. "And the most common question is 'well, what can I do'?"

CAMH found that only 50 per cent of Canadians would tell friends and co-workers that they have a family member with a mental illness, compared to 72 per cent who would talk about a cancer diagnosis.

Landsberg believes there are two lessons to be learned, acknowledge that you will never understand what it feels like but, "understand that you want to understand" and think about the dynamic that exists with the person who is suffering close to you.

And he has plenty of support. 

"As far as I am concerned, I don't think there are enough campaigns so we would support any organization or individuals that are advocating and improving the awareness of mental health," Lori Spadorcia, vice-president of communications and partnerships at CAMH said in a telephone interview.

 "It really feels like mental health is an issue whose time has come," added Deacon. "Cancer 50 years ago, AIDS 20 years ago, we're finally getting to a place where we are willing to talk about this as a health issue."

Both organizations respect Landsberg and his work as well as his potential to reach a different audience than CAMH or Bell Let's Talk. 

"The more different stories and initiatives and angles the better, everybody has a different reach," said Spadorcia. "Michael will reach a different audience than CAMH or a Clara Hughes [Bell Let's Talk spokesperson and a former Olympian]."

Spadorcia also in favour of initiatives targeting mental health because the added awareness has caught the focus of the federal government who will potentially begin to shift health care dollars towards the creation of more mental health programs. 

Mental illness constitutes more than 15 per cent of the burden of disease in Canada, at an estimated cost of more than $50 billion a year. But it receives less than six per cent of health care dollars in Canada. 

"What we've seen across the country is a number of governments developing priority strategies around mental health," said Spadorcia, who added that the Mental Health Commission of Canada is creating the first ever-national strategy on mental health.

According to a recent article by The Canadian Press, Health Minister Eric Hoskins and the Ontario government pledged $65 million in funding towards mental health and addiction services in 2014 and another $83 million in 2015.

"In mental health, I find, having worked in it for 15 years now, there is a real desire to help everyone raise the bar because it has been so systematically underfunded," said Deacon. "There is a sense of camaraderie in trying to help everyone raise more money because there is such a need."

Landsberg is aiming for a fall launch date for the organization and has been hard at work while on hiatus from OTR, focusing all of his energy on #SickNotWeak.

"I would say that I have all of the resources to do this thing," he said. "But I have to pull it all together."