Thursday, May 9, 2024

Mental Health Resources

No one needs to suffer in silence. Get the support you need

May is Mental Health Month and has been recognized in Canada since 1951.

Mental Health Month provides us with a focused opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations, share resources, and reinforce the value we place on mental health and wellness in the workplace.

The theme for Mental Health Month this year is kindness and compassion. We often think about compassion toward others, but what about when it comes to ourselves? Many people tend to be hard on themselves and quickly resort to negative self-talk in the face of adversity. This is especially relevant in an always on or busy work environment, which can add to our stress levels immensely. Over time, negative self-talk can inadvertently increase our stress levels and contribute to an increased risk of mental health challenges.

We encourage you to spend some time throughout this month focusing on the significant impact of self-compassion and how you use it (or don’t use it) at work and other areas of your life.

Here are some tools and resources to help you put self-compassion into practice as well as resources for mental health crises.

Emergencies

If you or someone you know is in crisis or is in immediate danger, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital.
You can also call or text 988 anywhere in Canada to get connected to professional mental health and suicide prevention resources within seconds.
Members covered under a CLAC health benefits plan have access to immediate, free, and confidential help through the HumanaCare EFAP. Access it anytime by logging into your myCLAC account and clicking on My Health and Wellness.
If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental health issue, CLAC has a number of resources and interactive tools available to help you in myCLAC under My Health and Wellness.
Stronger Minds (mindbeacon.com/strongerminds-home) features quick reads from mental health experts, activities to help you gain resilience, and ask-an-expert videos in response to questions.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) provides accessible, reliable, and professionally produced resources on an array of health topics including (but not limited to) addictions, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, depression, etc.
Wellness Together Canada: Mental Health and Substance Use Support (ca.portal.gs) provides free online resources, tools, apps, and connections to trained volunteers and qualified mental health professionals.

National Resources

Mental Health First Aid Canada provides an extensive list of resources for a wide spectrum of mental health concerns including substance-related disorders, mood-related disorders, anxiety and trauma-related disorders, psychotic disorders, deliberate self-injury, and eating disorders as well as general mental health resources.
Stronger Minds features videos and quick reads from mental health experts, activities to help you gain resilience, and ask-an-expert videos in response to questions.

Provincial Resources

Provincial government websites have helpful information and many links to resources and services to help you and your family.

Podcast Videos and Episodes

Being Kind to Yourself by Hidden Brain – In this 52-minute episode, Dr. Kristin Neff, a pioneer in self-compassion education, explains why self- criticism stunts our ability to grow and how practicing self-compassion can improve our relationships with others.

Robert Waldinger TED Talk: What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness – Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Robert Waldinger discusses research and findings from the longest study on happiness ever existing, one that spanned 75 years.

Books

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Dr. Kristin Neff – By shifting the focus from self-esteem to self-compassion, life-changing effects can happen.

Audiobook

Physical Book

The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest – Why do we self-sabotage? How can we overcome our internal struggles? Brianna Wiest answers these questions and more in this powerful book.

Audiobook

Physical Book

Apps

Happify
Science-backed games and activities to increase your mood and form new mental habits.

Click here to download for Apple.

Click here to download for Android.

Insight Timer
A free library of over 200,000 guided mediations with thousands of different teachers to choose from.