The Accessible
Mental Health
Initiative.
For Students:
Did you Know?
One in five students has a mental illness. Everyone has mental health. Mental health can be seen as a spectrum:
From day to day or even hour to hour one can move across the spectrum in terms of their mental health. Mental health is important for our wellbeing and is an important part of living a healthy life.
How to Cope While at School:
There are many different types of skills and coping activities during school:
Breathe in for a count of four, hold for a count of seven and exhale for a count of eight. Repeat this three more times. This is a useful tool for before you react or whenever needed.
Hear: Start to notice the sounds around you. These sounds can be internal such as your breathing or external such as the sound of walking.
Smell: Shift your attention to notice the smells around you. You might smell the trees if you are outside or books if you are in a classroom.
See: Notice your environment. Look for the colors, shapes, and textures.
Taste: Run your tongue across your teeth and cheeks, notice the tastes in your mouth. Even though you are not eating you can still notice your tongue in your both and the salvia around it.
Touch: Now start to notice the sensations of skin contact with your clothing or even your feet on the floor. Notice temperatures around you.
When you are done, take the time to notice how you feel now. This tool can be used when you are feeling overwhelmed or nervous for a presentation.
Prioritize your self-care; exercise, listen to music, go outside - find what works for you. (p.s. you can learn more about self-care here!)
Healthy
Reacting
Struggling
Unwell
Finding Support:
Many people worry about asking or seeking help from the stigma often attached to mental health. They might be worried about how people such as friends and family may see them. They might even be worried about admitting that something is wrong. Asking and seeking help is something that takes courage and is an important step towards getting better.
A part of finding feeling better is building a support system. Support can come from:
- Family
- Friends
- Your Family Doctor
- Helplines and Community Groups (link)
- Attending Workshops
- Meeting People in Similar Situations
Your support system should cater to your needs and goals and can include many others not included in the list.
If you need more help, contact a community organization to learn what is in your area. Click on one of the links to find resources at the following schools:
There are also many useful apps:
Smiling Mind is a great app that has short exercises for guided breathing, its developed by psychologists and educators. It includes meditation exercises and methods to check in with yourself for all ages.
Calm is a mindfulness and meditation app. It's a useful app to help de-stress with sessions ranging from 3 minutes to half an hour.
Happify is an app that uses positive psychology and CBT to create programs about emotional wellbeing.
Mindshift is an app created for youth to cope with anxiety (perfectionism, social anxiety, performance anxiety etc).
7 Cups is an app as well as a website that has free anonymous online therapy.
Steps is a great app for those with social anxiety, it allows you to set goals and record accomplishments such as going shopping alone or meeting up with an old friend.
Try these different coping strategies next time you are struggling or unwell to find what best works for you.