Category: Mental Health

Canada-wide Mental Health Supports for Youth and Adults

This season is proving to be a mixture of winter storms and spring weather. With the lack of daylight, gloomy weather, and harsh cold keeping us inside some days, it can be a difficult time for a lot of people. This time of year can be quite stressful, so it is important that we take care of ourselves and are able to smoothly access resources and supports.

You can benefit from mental help resources and accessing counseling services not only during times of intense emotions, but for just about anything. Counselling can be great for stress, time management, and daily emotion regulation.

If you or someone you know if going through a lot and may need some additional resources and support, visit Canada.ca for Canada-wide mental health resources.

Additional Supports:

Visit Wellness Together Canada to access different levels of support including:

  • One-on-one counselling
  • Credible articles and information
  • Self-guided courses and programs
  • Peer support and coaching

To connect with a mental health professional one-on-one at Wellness Together Canada:

Call 1-888-668-6810 or text WELLNESS to 686868 for youth.

Call 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741 for adults.

Crisis Lines:

Call Talk Suicide Canada at 1-833-456-4566. Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Quebec residents can call 1-866-277-3553 or visit suicide.ca.

Visit Talk Suicide Canada for the distress centres and crisis organizations near you.

For Children and Youth:

Visit the Kids Help Phone website for online chat support and to access further resources.

Call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to Canadians aged 5 to 29.  

For First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples:

Call Hope for Wellness at 1-855-242-3310 (toll-free) or visit the website to access an online chat. Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples seeking emotional support, crisis intervention, or referrals to community-based services.

Support is available in English and French and, by request, in Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut.

Fostering Community has a variety of resources and information about mental health, so check out our mental health channel for more.

Make Time for Self-Care with #bytelearning

Learning bytes are short courses, typically no more than 6 minutes, that are designed to be easy to digest. You can search Rumie’s library for the topics you would like to learn, then choose a course and start learning!

This week’s #bytelearning follows the theme #mentalhealth. Take a look at the following learning bytes to learn how to incorporate self-care practices into your schedule:

How Does My Body React to Emotions teaches you where the activation points are on your body and mindfulness strategies about checking in on yourself. 

How do I Avoid “Sunday Scaries”? This learning byte shares tips on how to combat this which includes taking care of your mental health, physical wellbeing, and creating a plan.

How Does My Body Respond to Stress gives you a crash course on the nervous system and spreads awareness about some of the physical and mental effects of stress on your body.

Rumie Initiative is technology company, a nonprofit organization, and a Canadian registered Charity. Check out the website here.

“We fill the gap between what you learned at school and what it takes to succeed by building the habit of lifelong learning.” – Rumie Initiative. 

5 Self-Care Tips to Practice This Exam Season

Since we are getting close to the end of the year, things are starting to get busy. With exams coming up for students, end of the year reports, or an influx of customers, it can be a very stressful time for a lot of people. The best thing you can do to prevent getting overwhelmed during this time is to take care of yourself. You can do this by checking in on your mental health, resting, and doing activities that bring you joy. Canadian Association for Mental Health (CAMH) has a fantastic infographic “Six Ways to Practice Self-care” which you can find here.

Here are 5 self-care tips that can help you get ahead of your stress:

Eat Healthy & Drink Water

It is important to make time for eating, even if you feel like there’s no time to take a break and finish studying. If you find that it’s difficult to remember to eat at the right times, you can try creating a plan and setting alarms or reminders on your calendar. Drink lots of water and have snacks throughout the day.

Get a Good Sleep

Sleep is necessary when we’re trying to use a lot of brain power. If you find that you do not have enough energy to get you through the day, check in with yourself about how much sleep you’re currently getting and if you could use more. 7-9 hours of sleep is a good amount of time to aim for.

Slow it Down

Take breaks! Your brain needs small breaks throughout the day so that you don’t overwhelm yourself. You could take some time to go for a walk, get a coffee, or listen to music. Believe it or not, it can help you get more work done when you take small breaks throughout the day.

Move Your Body

Sometimes going for a walk or doing a short activity that makes you move around can be beneficial. This can help release endorphins, which can help reduce stress. Even if you don’t feel like going outside, you should try your best to move throughout the day.  

Socialize

Talk to your friends, housemates, or family when you can. Sometimes when we feel sad, we isolate ourselves. It can help reduce stress to talk to people you enjoy hanging out with and to surround yourself with your support system however you can.

Try some of these tips if you find yourself struggling to get your school work done, complete projects, and can’t seem to find time to relax. From exam season to the holidays, this can be an incredibly stressful time.

How To Get Comfortable Spending Time with Yourself

It’s a Thursday night, you’ve finished your schoolwork for the day and your friends are busy until the weekend. So, what do you do? You could pick up an old hobby or maybe cook a big meal, but it’s just not the same. It can feel upsetting when you can’t do what you wanted to, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t find something fun to do!

Whether it’s rest, relaxation, or fun, spending time with yourself doesn’t have to be boring. Betterhelp shares helpful tips to become more comfortable spending time with yourself. Here are some highlights:

Plan Ahead

Come up with a plan on how you want to spend your time. This ensures you know what you’re going to be doing. This can also benefit people who enjoy checking off to-do lists. For example, write down your plans on a calendar like this:

A calendar with an "x" on some days, and on one square there are the words "read comic books!" with a red circle around it.

This is simple and gets the point across. You don’t need to plan it like a meeting, but it is helpful to know what activity you’re thinking of trying. 

Start Slow

Since this might be out of your comfort zone, it could feel a little awkward at first. Spend time alone in small time frames at first to avoid overwhelming yourself and giving up. Spend some time doing activities by yourself that you typically do not (for me this would be shopping at the mall or playing Mario Kart), and with time you will feel more comfortable doing things alone. This doesn’t mean you have to do things alone, this is just to help you feel more comfortable for when you do these things on your own.

Text that reads: "good things take time".

Try Something New

Trying new things can be scary, but it is also a great way to keep your mind busy. If you have always wanted to try doing a Rubix cube, borrow or buy one, start watching a YouTube tutorial, and give it a go! This is ideal for people who dislike awkward silence or tend to overthink when your brain is not active. If you feel nervous thinking about eating at a restaurant alone or seeing a movie by yourself, you don’t have to try this yet, remember to start slow first.

A chess board with a hand holding a brown pawn chess piece knocking over a white king chess piece. 

Use the Time to Relax

This is the perfect opportunity to use your time to rest and relax. This could be taking a bath, putting on your favourite playlist, or going for a walk. If you’re always on the go and feel like you don’t have enough time to just recuperate, this could be a great way to spend your night.

A person in a hammock with a hat over their face and a book on their lap. They seem to be napping. 

Take the time you need for yourself and try your best to enjoy it. Being alone can feel unsettling, but it is also a great time to reflect and learn more about yourself. You deserve to have a good time relaxing, reading comic books, solving a Rubix cube, and doing everything that brings you enjoyment.