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Tomorrow is World Book Day and if you can’t celebrate by staying home and reading in your pyjamas all day, consider this related workplace initiative: start a Wellness Library!
When someone’s struggling with their mental health it can be difficult to know where to turn for help. Before a person gets to a place where they’re ready to access support in the form of an appointment with a mental health professional it can be tremendously helpful to tap into some reliable resources, like evidence-based books and websites, as a first step. Create a safe, private space easily accessible to your team members and make some of the resources below available for people to browse and borrow:
1. Mind Over Mood, Second Edition: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think by Dennis Greenberger (buy it HERE)
This self-help book uses principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (widely recognized as one of the most effective approaches for treating mental health problems in talk therapy) to help readers manage symptoms of anxiety, depression, low self esteem, relationship problems and more.
2. The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne (buy it HERE)
Recommended by therapists worldwide, this book is considered a “go-to” in learning strategies to deal with stress, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, phobias and other mental health problems and disorders under that umbrella.
3. Little Book of Mindfulness: 10 Minutes a Day to Less Stress, More Peace by Patricia Collard (buy it HERE)
A beautifully illustrated book that teaches practical ways to implement simple mindfulness practices into day to day life. If you like this one be sure to check out the Little Book of Gratitude and the Little Book of Meditation, too.
4. Stress: The Psychology of Managing Pressure by Diane McIntosh and Jonathan Horowitz (buy it HERE)
Questionnaires, infographics and other tools to gauge your stress level, identify sources of stress and work through it to become happier, healthier and more productive.
5. Matthew Johnstone’s Black Dog series
I Had a Black Dog gives readers insight into the firsthand experience of depression, Living With a Black Dog is a helpful guide to supporting a loved one who lives with depression and Quiet the Mind is all about practical strategies to promote mindfulness and mental resilience.
6. Workplace Strategies for Mental Health: Printable Resources, Research and Reports (access them HERE)
This site offers tons of free ready-to-download resources, from tools to help managers support the mental health of their employees to research outlining best practices on psychological health and safety at work to printable colouring pages!
7. e-Mental Health: Info Sheets (access them HERE)
If you’re looking for the “quick and dirty” on mental health, mental illness, treatments and self-help strategies, you’ll find it all on this site.
8. Your Workplace’s EFAP info
The Wellness Library is an ideal place to make your organization’s EFAP cards available for your team members to take.
9. Your City/Province’s Helping Tree
If you live in the Maritimes, find your area’s Helping Tree below:
10. A List of Your Community’s Mental Health Resources
Do a bit of research and compile a list of mental health resources available to the public in your area. Here are a few ideas to get your list going:
211: available in most Canadian provinces, dial 2-1-1 or visit 211.ca for a list of all social support resources (including mental health, financial, legal, housing and much more).
TeleCare/TeleHealth/HealthLink: this service goes by different names in different provinces but is accessible across Canada simply by dialing 8-1-1. This gives you 24/7 access to a Registered Nurse who can give you some direction on next steps to take and resources available in your geographical area.
Canadian Mental Health Association: visit cmha.ca and click the “Find Your CMHA” button near the top right corner of the page to navigate to your local branch.
The LifeLine Canada (TLC): visit thelifelinecanada.ca and encourage your team members to download the LifeLife Canada app. The app’s “Call” button populates a list of each province and territory’s mental health crisis line (available HERE on the web).
Here are some useful province-specific resources if you live in our neck of the woods (Atlantic Canada):
New Brunswick - Find information about your local Community Mental Health clinic.
Prince Edward Island - One of the most fantastic resources available in Atlantic Canada is PEI’s mental health walk-in clinics. They’re meant for non-crisis situations for people who don’t presently have a mental health care service provider.
Nova Scotia - Find details about Nova Scotia Health Authority’s mental health programs and services.
Newfoundland & Labrador - Bridge the gAPP is an interactive database all of the province’s mental health resources including supports available through the public health care system, community agencies and private organizations
Does your workplace or community have a mental health resource you think others should know about? Let’s hear about it in the Comments section below!
Elizabeth Eldridge is a Psychological Health & Safety Consultant based in southern New Brunswick, Canada. In addition to frequent keynote speaking and corporate training on mental health she is the owner/operator of Arpeggio Health Services, Atlantic Canada’s largest provider of public mental health trainings. Learn more at elizabetheldridge.com, summitcorporatewellness.com and arpeggiohealthservices.com.
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