Protecting Your Mental Well-being During a Pandemic

We are hearing a lot about the directives from our local Public Health Units for protecting our physical health during this global pandemic. We can’t deny that these protocols and steps are absolutely necessary for ensuring not only our health, and the health of our family, but also the health of the community at large including our most vulnerable populations. What we don’t hear a lot about is the fact that during this difficult time, our mental health and well-being is greatly impacted.

Mental HealthKate KleinApril 17, 2020mental health, mental health and wellbeing, awareness, naturopath, pandemic, self-care, counsellingComment

Winter Got You Down?

Feeling sad, low mood, tired, irritable, anxious, not interested? You may have the “winter blues” also known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Other symptoms include: sugar cravings, difficulty concentrating, over sleeping, weight gain, and sometimes even suicidal thoughts.

Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that is related to the change in seasons, typically it occurs in winter but some people can also be affected at other times of seasonal change.

The Silent Crisis: Men's Mental Health

Today marks "Men's Mental Health Awareness" day in Canada and although the gender gap amongst individuals with mental illness has narrowed, the overall stigma associated with mental health remains, especially amongst males. Statistics Canada completed a Community Health Survey on Mental Health and found that 10% of men reported experiencing symptoms associated with mental health concerns and/or substance abuse. This is only one percent less than that of the female population (11% reported mental health concerns). These findings show that mental health concerns are just as prevalent amongst males, whereas previous research has not demonstrated this, however, that was likely due to under-reporting by men.

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