The mother of a Cape Breton man who died by suicide claims there’s too much talk about mental health education and not enough action.

It's been nearly seven years since Fran Morrison last saw her son, Eric, alive. She feels the mental health system failed her family.

“I want to see, instead of people in their ivory tower having conferences, put that money and that time where it counts in the front line,” Morrison says.

After three teen deaths by suicide in Cape Breton over six months, adolescent mental health is front and centre. Experts in the field gathered in Halifax on Thursday to talk about the tools needed to better support youth dealing with mental health challenges.

“We're almost ready to launch our pre-service teacher training program in mental health literacy,” says mental health expert Dr. Stan Kutcher. “When that is launched every single faculty of education in Canada will have the opportunity to use that material to train the teachers.”

Among the issues they will focus on is adolescent brain development and what to do after a tragic death.

“You need to work closely with the families. That's the first point of contact,” says school counsellor Belinda Josephson. “You need to work closely with the classroom teachers, and working with the community resources we have available.”

According to Dr. Stan Kutcher, 70 per cent of mental health illnesses can be diagnosed before the age of 25. The province plans to include mental health literacy as part of school curriculum in the junior high and high school levels this year. 

“Putting in a school curriculum is an amazing way to reach all the children in our schools and in our communities. Making them more aware is huge. Communicating that to everyone is really essential,” Josephson says.

Morrison feels the decision is a step in the right direction, but feels there's still not enough being done.

“If these leaders are so bloody dynamic then why hasn't something been done before now? Why are they still talking with no action? That's where my frustration is.”

The two-day conference wraps up Friday in Halifax.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.