WEYBURN - The Canadian Mental Health Association is encouraging residents to #GetReal during their 71st annual Mental Health Week, to be held May 2 to 8. One of the goals of this year’s theme is to remind everyone that we may be different, but we are not on different sides. It is important to see the world as others do, as that is displaying empathy.
The value of mental health supports and programs has become important, now more than ever. Many residents struggled during the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when they were unable to reach out to social supports.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a major effect on our lives. Many of us faced challenges that were stressful and overwhelming. It may be a while yet before we know the full measure of the impact of COVID-19 on our mental health, but preliminary surveys indicate that many Canadians are reporting higher levels of psychological distress.
Learning to cope with stress in a healthy way can help you, the people you care about, and those around you become more resilient. Organizations like the Canadian Mental Health Association have found ways to provide the support and programs in a variety of different ways, including over the phone, online, or in-person while observing masking mandates.
Personally, just knowing that the Canadian Mental Health Association had these supports and programs available online was a great resource for me. When COVID-19 was first declared as a world-wide pandemic, many businesses were forced to either shut their doors or reduce staff. Newspapers were declared an essential service, which kept our business open, however I was on a temporary work leave.
It was quite stressful and mentally shocking since there was a feeling of loss and grief. There was nothing I could do to control the situation, and that just made things a little more difficult for me. I sat at home in a depressed state, and my only salvation were mental health programs that I could access online at that time, since social distancing restrictions were in place.
After I was able to return to work, it still took time for my mental state to recover from the shock of the situation. It was a difficult time, because I knew that many other people in the community were in a similar situation, and it was challenging to feel supported since I didn’t feel I could call upon personal social supports who were dealing with their own struggles.
The fact that organizations like the Canadian Mental Health Association found ways to continue to provide their supports and programs were so invaluable to me. I knew that if I was really struggling, I could pick up the phone, or look for resources on their website. It helped me from feeling totally alone and vulnerable, and how valuable empathy truly is to others.
