Name it, don’t numb it: get talking about mental health
This year it’s more important than ever to take care of your mental health, as over 40% of Canadians say that their mental health has declined since the start of the pandemic. To learn more we spoke with Tiffanie, Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association Yukon. She shared with us how Northerns can join the conversation this Mental Health Week.
Get talking
Name it, don’t numb itopens in new window is this year's CMHA Mental Health Week theme. This week encourages all Canadians to name their emotions to understand and process them. As Tiffanie highlights this week is important to raise awareness about mental health, eliminate stigma and get our community talking.
“Every human has mental health, whether they are thriving, maintaining, languishing or struggling. It is so important to me that as a society we continue to eliminate the stigma of mental illness and work on ensuring parity between mental and physical health.”
Mental health Week offers tools such as language to help name these emotions and not just numb them. As Tiffanie describes, talking about all our emotions, not just happiness- is key to protecting good mental health.
“Good mental health isn’t about being happy all the time, it’s about experiencing a full range of human emotions even the uncomfortable ones like anger, fear, shame, sadness. When we give ourselves space to feel our emotions and put our feelings into words, we are actually constructing and making meaning of our emotions.”
Tiffanie shared that living in the North can create some unique challenges. Access to resources may be limited in remote and small communities. Season can be dark and cold impacting our sleep, exercise and health. But she believes Northerns have shown creativity and resiliency this year to take care of their mental wellness. “We are adapting to new ways of working, educating, socializing and celebrating. We are talking about our health, both physical and mental, and many people are taking action to stay well or get well.”
Get sharing
Tiffanie and her the team at CMHA-YT, in partnership with the Mental Wellness Substance Use services are encouraging Northerners to take part in this year’s Mental Health Week. May 3-9. Take a photo that shows how you boost your mental health, share it on Facebook, tag @yukonhss and @mentalhealthyukon and include #GetReal.
Get connected
As a proud sponsor of mental health initiatives across the North we partner with organizations helping people facing mental health issues and are working to end the stigma.
For more resources and support in your community check out the links below.
