Our overall well-being includes a balance of the mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional parts of ourselves. This involves our ability to live in harmony with family, community, and the environment. When we are mentally well, we feel good about ourselves, can handle life's challenges, and maintain healthy relationships. Explore these resources dedicated to supporting your mental health and wellness:
As we age, it's important to take care of our mental health in many ways. It's important to stay connected with others and avoid feeling lonely. Having friends, family, and being involved in social activities can make a big difference in how we feel. Keeping active by exercising regularly also helps keep our minds healthy and happy.
Older Indigenous adults may have a hard time getting culturally safe mental health support because of colonialism and racism. NH wants to make sure Indigenous people can access the best care while feeling respected and free from discrimination.
Resources
- Advocacy and building general awareness about the mental health needs of older adults - Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health
- Connect: Build positive relationships: Practical steps to nurture positive social connections - HealthLink BC
- Coping with Loneliness: Suggestions to reduce loneliness and increase social connection - Canadian Mental Health Association
- Improving access to mental health and addictions services and supports for older Indigenous adults using a cultural safety and equity lens - National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH)
- Keeping good mental well-being as you age: Guidance to promote healthy mental health habits as you grow older - HealthLink BC
Services
- Red Cross Friendly Calls Program: Matches people over the age of 18 with trained Red Cross personnel who connect with them regularly - Canadian Red Cross
- Health and wellness services to over 200 diverse First Nations communities and citizens across British Columbia, including wellness streams and mental health and wellness supports - First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)
It's important to take care of your mental well-being, but many men face challenges in doing so because of what society expects of them. Take a look at these resources and remember, your mental health is just as important as your physical health.
- A participant-led community for men’s health and wellness - Dudes club
- Men’s suicide prevention communications campaign - Buddy up
- MindFit Tool Kit: Mental Wellness For Men: Mental health resources for men to manage stress, anxiety, and depression - Canadian Men's Health Foundation
- Rural Mental Wellness Toolkit: Resources for agricultural and rural communities - Stigma Free Mental Health Society
Apps
- Deep Sleep - Provides guided meditations intended to help you overcome insomnia.
- Mindfulness Meditation - This app will help you practice meditation with a series of audios adapted to the different needs of your everyday life.
- Mindshift - Helps you learn how to relax, develop more helpful ways of thinking, and identify active steps that will help you take charge of your anxiety. This app includes strategies to deal with everyday anxiety, as well as specific tools to tackle test anxiety, perfectionism, social anxiety, performance anxiety, worry, panic and conflict.
- Simply Being - Guided meditation app. It allows you to choose from five meditation times and gives you the option to listen to guided meditation with or without music or nature sounds.
- SuperBetter - Helps to achieve your health goals by increasing your personal resilience. Resilience means staying curious, optimistic and motivated even in the face of the toughest challenges.
Resources
We have collected reliable information from trusted sources to help you deal with stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues in healthy ways. The resources below can help you learn how to manage these concerns and improve your overall mental wellness. Take a look at the resources and remember to take small steps each day to improve your mental wellness.
- Rural Mental Wellness Toolkit: Mental wellness resources for people living in rural areas - Stigma Free Mental Health Society
- Health and wellness services to over 200 diverse First Nations communities and citizens across British Columbia, including wellness streams and mental health and wellness supports - First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)
- Work-life balance and coping with loneliness resources - Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)
- How to improve mental wellness and well-being - HealthLink BC
- Métis Crisis Line: Free 24/7 support for Métis people experiencing challenges like anxiety and grief. Get the support you need at any time. Call 1-833-Metis-BC (1-833-638-4722) - Help Starts Here
Moving to a new country can make you feel a mix of different emotions. These may include a mix of excitement and anxiety as one adjusts to a different cultural environment, as well as feelings of sadness when leaving behind familiar surroundings and the comforts of one's homeland. Prioritizing mental wellness is crucial in navigating a new country. This might look like:
- Building a support network
- Engaging in self-care activities
- Seeking assistance from mental health resources
Promoting mental wellness for newcomers to Canada not only benefits individuals but also contributes to a diverse and inclusive Canadian society.
Resources
- Health care in Canada: Mental health and well-being support for newcomers - Government of Canada
- Mental and emotional wellness: Newcomer support - Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia
Hello and welcome to all parents, caregivers, and natural supports (e.g., teachers, coaches, etc.) of children and youth. Whether you are a parent, auntie, teacher, or loved one, your role in nurturing and guiding the next generation is valuable. Understanding what mental wellness is and how it looks in young people helps us recognize signs of potential distress or struggles with mental health. While supporting young people through challenges related to mental health might feel overwhelming, there are many ways parents and caregivers can help. There are also proactive steps adults can take to promote mental wellness. This includes engaging in open, ongoing, and supportive conversations with children and youth, getting restful sleep, and supporting and nurturing social and emotional skills from a young age.
New parents
Becoming a new parent can be happy and exciting, but it can also be hard and stressful. It's important to take care of your mental health during this time. Make sure to get help when you need it, take care of yourself, and have people you trust to lean on. This will help you stay mentally well and strong as you adjust to being a parent.
- Parenting resources grounded in Indigenous Knowledge - First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)
- HealthLink BC offers resources for new parents including:
- Your guide to postpartum health and caring for your baby: Resources to support mental health - Government of Canada
- Support for miscarriage, stillbirth and loss of a baby - Northern Health
Indigenous parents and caregivers of Indigenous children
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit families and communities continue to be affected by colonization and colonialism, which includes harms caused by residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, the Millennial Scoop, medical institutions, and child welfare systems in Canada. These harmful effects of colonialization have broken the passing down of traditional knowledge and cultural practices from one generation to the next. Despite these challenges, Indigenous peoples have fought to preserve their languages and cultures and continue to work towards restoring the health and well-being of their families and communities.
It is important to remember children are our future. By coming together to build resilience and create a future where strong, healthy families thrive in healthy communities, we can ensure that children have a strong connection to their culture and values. This will help them grow into resilient, healthy people.
- Supporting Inuit Children - Indigenous Services Canada
- Parenting resources grounded in Indigenous Knowledge: Booklets grounded in Indigenous Knowledge and traditional approaches to parenting - First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)
Resources
Welcome to Northern Health's collection of resources to support you as you care for children and young people. On this page, you can find information on common parenting challenges and what to do if you're worried about your child. These resources are meant to help you confidently support your child's mental well-being.
- Resources grounded in Indigenous Knowledge: Booklets grounded in Indigenous Knowledge and traditional approaches to parenting - First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)
- FamilySmart connects parents/caregivers who have experience of children living with mental health and substance use challenges - FamilySmart
- Your Child’s Mental Health: How to nurture your child’s mental health. This video introduces how to support mental health in children of all ages. Other videos address self-esteem and other aspects of health. Their mental health pages cover a variety of topics - Canadian Pediatric Society
Services
- Navigate the mental health system: Resources tailored to help support parents and caregivers and healthy living guidance for families to build mental wellness - BC Children’s Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre
- Information for supporting youth and youth adults - Kelty Mental Health
- Healthy and safe technology use - Kelty Mental Health
- In-person and virtual support for youth including peer support, mental well-being programs and groups, including virtual drop-in counselling. Foundry has information for families and caregivers including tips for talking about mental health - Foundry BC
- Child and youth mental health and substance use resource guide for families: Guide to help youth and families find information and support, and to provide contact information for local and virtual counselling services – Northern Health
It is important to recognize that the relationship between substance use and mental wellness is highly interconnected. Engaging in healthy coping mechanisms, such as seeking support, practicing self-care, and adopting positive outlets for stress can greatly diminish the appeal of using substances as a temporary escape from life’s problems.
If you require assistance with mental health and/or addictions, Northern Health’s Mental Health and Substance Use programming offers a wide range of programs and services and lists services by community to assist you where you live.