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Mental Health
What is Mental Wellness? 
Mental wellness or good Mental Health is feeling, thinking, and
interacting in ways that help you enjoy life and deal effectively
with difficult situations.
Mental wellness gives you a sense of
- self-worth
- dignity
- belonging
- problem-solving
- self-determination
- tolerance
- acceptance and respect for others
so that you can
- realize your full potential
- understand and feel good about yourself
- relate to others and expand your social support networks
- experience pleasure and enjoyment
- handle stress
- assess challenges and problems
- set goals and follow interests
- explore choices and make decisions
- have power and control over your life
- develop good problem-solving and coping skills
- bounce back from negative experiences that everyone encounters
Did you know...?
- Mental wellness is as important to overall well being as physical
health, social and emotional connectedness, and intellectual accomplishment.
- A recent study found that the specific traits associated with
mental wellness at age 10 are significant indicators of employment
and earnings at age 26 – as significant as academic ability.
- Support from family and friends is important for positive mental
and physical health.
- Having even one supportive adult (parent, close friend, teacher,
coach, or youth worker) can prevent a child/youth from developing
mental disorders and/or abusing substances.
| What can YOU do to take care of
your mental health?
The National Canadian Mental Health
Association has ten tips for good mental health:
1. Build Confidence - Identify your abilities and weaknesses
together, accept them, build on your abilities, and do
the best with what you have.
2. Eat right, Keep fit - A balanced diet, exercise and
rest can help you to reduce stress and enjoy life.
3. Make Time for Family and Friends - Important relationships
need to be nurtured. If taken for granted, these people
may not be there to share life's joys and sorrows.
4. Give and Accept Support – Positive friends and
healthy family relationships show their strength during
difficult times.
5. Create a Meaningful Budget - Financial problems cause
stress. Over-spending on our "wants" instead
of our "needs" is often the culprit.
6. Volunteer - Being involved in community gives a special
sense of purpose and satisfaction.
7. Manage Stress - We all have stress in our lives but
learning how to deal with it when it threatens to overwhelm
us helps to maintain our mental health.
8. Find Strength in Numbers - Sharing a problem with
others who have had similar experiences may help you find
a solution and will make you feel less isolated.
9. Identify and Deal with Moods - We all need to find
safe and constructive ways to express our feelings of
anger, sadness, joy and fear.
10. Learn to Be at Peace with Yourself - Get to know
who you are, what makes you really happy, and learn to
balance what you can and cannot change about yourself.
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Mental Health Promotion
raises awareness and understanding of mental health issues and reduces
the stigma of mental illness though education and training. Parents
and teachers can play a significant role in promoting mental health
in their children and students.
What can FAMILY members do to promote mental wellness?
- Help children to recognize and celebrate their strengths.
- Provide a safe place where children can talk about things that
are concerning them.
- Help children to problem solve and develop action plans to address
difficult situations.
- Encourage children to be active in a variety of school and community
activities.
- Make sure that children have some time to unwind and relax in
between scheduled activities.
- Help children to understand the connection between physical
and mental health.
- Emphasize the importance of healthy lifestyle choices.
- Help children learn the skills and empower them to make good
decisions.
- Talk about balance and choice with children.
- Promote a healthy body image by positive role modelling (for
example, not making negative comments about anyone’s weight
and appearance).
What can SCHOOLS do to promote mental wellness?
- Schools can build a sense of connectedness and community through
in-school and extra-curricular activities that draw upon a variety
of student interests, talents and strengths.
- Teachers can create a positive learning environment by emphasizing
the importance of respecting and valuing diversity.
- Teachers can help build self-esteem in children by encouraging
them to identify and celebrate their own strengths, and the strengths
of their classmates.
- Teachers can help build important life skills by involving students
in activities that develop critical thinking, communication, interpersonal
skills, empathy and coping.
- Schools can run substance abuse prevention programs that involve
parents, media, community organizations, etc.
- Schools can create safe learning environments by putting policies
in place to address aggressive behaviour, such as bullying.
Click here for some examples
of what Manitoba schools have done to promote mental health.
Mental Health Literacy
refers to the knowledge, beliefs, and abilities that support the
recognition, management, or prevention of mental health and substance
use problems. It includes:
- the ability to recognize specific disorders, including addictions
- knowing how to seek information on mental health and substance
use problems
- knowledge of risk factors and causes, of self-care techniques,
and of attitudes that promote recognition and appropriate help-seeking.
Mental Health Literacy is also important for reducing stigma, by
focusing on changing language and labels to describe mental health
and individuals with mental health issues.
Source: BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions Information.
What is Mental Health Literacy and Why is it Important? Retrieved
July 18, 2006 from
http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/aboutus/index.shtml#literacy
Stigma is the use of stereotypes
and labels when describing someone. Stereotypes are often attached
to people who are suffering from a mental illness. Our society tends
to not give the same acceptance to mental disorders as we do to
other organ disorders (e.g. diabetes or heart disease). This stigma
can limit opportunities, it can stand in the way of a new job, it
can increase feelings of loneliness, and it can cause many other
outcomes. Anyone with a mental health problem must know that it
is not their fault and that it is OK to ask for help.
What is a Mental Health Problem?
Mental Health Problems are struggles and difficulties that
affect everybody from time to time. Everybody experiences mental
health problems at some time, and these problems can affect their
ability to handle day-to-day situations and enjoy life. These types
of problems do not always require medical treatment. Some people
recover from their mental health problems with self-help and support
from others; others require professional help.
Associated with mental health problems are:
- low self-esteem
- frustration or anger
- behaviour problems
- school learning problems
- feeling stressed
- worry
- sleeping problems
What is a Mental Illness or Mental Disorder?
Mental Illness or Mental Disorder refers to a diagnosed
condition (e.g., Depression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,
Bipolar Disorder, Addiction, or Schizophrenia) that may require
medical treatment. The exact cause of many mental illnesses is unknown,
but current theories suggest that some illnesses are related to
the chemistry of the brain. There are many things that may play
a role in causing or triggering a mental illness. For example, genetic
factors, such as having a parent or close relative with a serious
mental illness, may increase a person’s likelihood of developing
a mental illness. Stress may act as a trigger for a mental disorder
or may make it worse.
Common mental health problems or disorders associated with children
and youth include:
Where Can I Go For Help?
If you are having an immediate mental health crisis, please click
here to see a listing of mental health crisis lines and services
available in Manitoba or contact the Youth
Emergency Crisis Stabilization System at MacDonald Youth Services
in Winnipeg.
Mental health services are provided by family doctors, mental health
clinicians, psychiatrists, and other professionals. Start with your
family doctor or school guidance counselor. For more mental health
services in your region, contact your local Regional
Health Authority.
For further information about Mental Wellness, Mental Health Promotion,
and Mental Illness, please visit the LINKS
provided.
Sources:
General
Canadian Mental Health Association. (1993) Mental health for
life.
http://www.cmha.ca/english/info_centre/mh_pamphlets/mh_pamphlet_01.pdf
Canadian Mental Health Association. Mental health and high school.
Mental health Problems.
http://www.cmha.ca/highschool/s_mhp3.htm
Canadian Mental Health Association. The 10 tips for mental health.
http://www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=4-42-214
Canadian Mental Health Association. Mental Health Promotion
Tool Kit: A practical resource for community initiatives.
http://www.cmha.ca/mh_toolkit
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice. Promoting resilience
in children: What parents can do – Information for families.
American Institute for Research, Washington.
http://cecp.air.org/familybriefs/docs/Resiliency1.pdf
Health Promotions. Difference between mental health and mental
illness.
http://www.health-promotions.com/page.cfm?page=321
Kim-Cohen, J., Caspit, A., Moffitt, T.E., Harrington, H., Milne,
B.J., Poulton, R. (2003). Prior juvenile diagnoses in adults
with mental disorder – Developmental follow-back of a prospective
longitudinal cohort. Arc. Gen. Psych. Vol. 60, pp.709.
Kirby, J. L. & Keon, W. J. (2004). Mental Health, Mental
Illness and Addiction: Overview of Policies and Programs in Canada.
Senate of Canada.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/soci-e/rep-e/report1/repintnov04vol1-e.pdf
National Health Service (NHS). (2004) Mental Health Promotion:
Making it Happen.
http://www.nelmh.org/page_view.asp?c=22&did=2354&fc=004002
National Mental Health Awareness Campaign. Stigma. Retrieved
July 18, 2006 from
http://www.nostigma.org/stigma.html
South Shore Health. Mental health promotion.
http://www.ssdha.nshealth.ca/Mental%20health%20promotion.htm
St. John, T., Leon, L., McCulloch. (2004). Lifetime impacts
– Childhood and adolescent mental health: Understanding the
lifetime impacts. Report of a seminar – Office of Health
Economics and the Mental Health Foundation, April 26, 2004.
Waddell, C., McEwan, K., Shepherd, C.A., Offord, D.R., Hua, J.M.
(2005). A public health strategy to improve the mental health
of Canadian children. Can J. Psychiatry, Vol. 50, No.4, pp.226-233.
http://www.cpa-apc.org/Publications/Archives/CJP/2005/March2/Waddell-RP.asp
World Health Organization. (2001). Mental health: Strengthening
mental health promotion.
For more information
about
Healthy Schools, please contact:
Healthy Schools
Phone: (204) 788-6679
Toll Free: 1-888-848-0140
Email: healthyschools@gov.mb.ca |
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