Mental Wellness

  

On this Page:

• No Health without Mental Health
• Your Mental Wellness Changes Over Time
• Taking Care of Your Mental Wellness
• Supporting Someone Else
• The Role of Public Health in Mental Health Promotion
• Mental Health & Wellness Support

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No Health Without Mental Health

 

Mental health is a critical part of overall health and wellness. Positive mental health is having the capacity to feel, think, and act in ways that allow you to enjoy life and deal with the challenges you face. People experience better mental health when they have a sense of hope, belonging, meaning, and purpose.

 

Factors that can contribute to poor mental health include social exclusion, adverse childhood experiences, trauma, discrimination, racism, colonization, and poverty.

 

Communities and organizations can promote positive mental health and wellness by creating environments that support healthy living, social connectedness, diversity, inclusion, cultural expression, and access to mental health support. We can all take action to reduce stigma, racism, discrimination, bullying and violence.

 

Your Mental Wellness Changes Over Time

Mental health is a state of being which changes throughout our lives. It can be impacted by events, transitions, and circumstances and is often viewed on a continuum. The Mental Health Commission Canada developed a Continuum Self Check which includes some general indicators to help understand your mental health and where you might fall on the continuum. 

It is possible for a person who is diagnosed with a mental illness to have positive mental health. Similarly, a person without a mental illness can experience poor mental health. This is visualized in the Two Continua Model:

(click to enlarge)

Taking Care of Your Mental Wellness

A good first step to taking care of your mental wellness is doing a mental health check-in. 

 

Many healthy habits that are good for your physical health, such as eating well, being active and getting enough sleep, also help support mental wellness. See additional ideas below:

 

• Spend time in nature.
• Practice mindfulness and deep breathing.
• Volunteer with an organization that matters to you.
• Meet new people by joining a social activity, class, or course.
• Set boundaries between work and personal life.
• Do an activity that brings you joy or peace, such as knitting, baking, or reading.
• Make time to be with the people who are important to you.
• Be aware that psychoactive substances like alcohol, nicotine (e.g., in cigarettes & vapes), cannabis, opioids, and caffeine can have a negative impact on mental health.
• Seek help if you need it.

 Remember, looking after your mental health is just as important as looking after your physical health!

 

Supporting Someone Else

Social support is a very important part of mental wellness. Being there to have a conversation with a family member, friend, co-worker, or neighbour can make a big difference. You don’t need to have all the answers. Often what people need is somebody to listen.

 

If needed, you can find additional resources below and list of support and services here:

 

• Canadian Mental Health Association – Mental Health Help for Others
• BeThere.org

 

The Role of Public Health in Mental Health Promotion

Public health supports mental health promotion by building partnerships, sharing knowledge, enabling change, and leading advocacy efforts. The Mental Health Promotion Guideline (2018) outlines the roles, responsibilities and approaches required by public health and calls us to consider mental health promotion in planning, implementing, and evaluating programs of public health interventions.

 

Algoma Public Health works collaboratively with local, provincial, and national partners to promote mental health and wellness. As part of the Ontario Public Health Standards, we aim to embed mental health promotion strategies and approaches into all programs and services, keeping in mind our local needs, context, and priority populations.

 

For more general information on mental health and wellness visit:

 

• Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)
• CMHA Ontario
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
• Mental Health Commission of Canada
  
  

Mental Health & Wellness Support 

Mental Health Services

To connect to mental health services such as counselling and treatment for mental health concerns you can contact:

• 211 Ontario at 211 or visit https://211ontario.ca/211-topics/mental-health-addictions/ or text 211
• Discuss with your primary care provider
• Canadian Mental Health Association at 705-759-0458 or https://ssm-algoma.cmha.ca/
• Sault Area Hospital - Community Mental Health Program at 705-759-3434

 

For additional mental health services for residents of Algoma see our Support Services Directory

 

Online & Telephone Resources

There are many organizations in Ontario & Canada that provide virtual and telephone mental health and wellness support: