MHW - 2010 

CMHA’s 59th annual National Mental Health Week took place May 3–9, 2010, sponsored by Desjardins Financial. This year’s theme is 'Building your mental health ... one support at a time'.    National Mental Health Week provides Canadians with opportunities to find out more about the importance of mental health and how to achieve it in our daily lives. Across Canada, CMHA provides people with the tools to help build lasting and meaningful relationships which are important for everyone's mental health. Various materials have been developed that advise on ways to reach out to friends, neighbours, colleagues and family; maintain good physical health and build a support network for the future.

Our Mental Health Week boosters!  L to R: Jo Power, CMHA/PEI staff;
John Horrelt, President; and Lori Morris, CMHA/PEI staff.

CMHA/PEI's 'Walk for Mental Health'

As part of Mental Health Week celebrations, CMHA held its sixth annual ‘Walk for Mental Health’ on Wednesday, May 5.  The Walk took place at two locations across PEI: in Charlottetown at Confederation Landing Park and in Alberton at Hope Centre/Community Centre. These events featured free fun, food and fitness, plus some draw prizes as well!  This year the walks also featured fine, sunny, weather which helped buoy everyone's spirits!!

Photos from MHW Week - 2010

Ways to Build Your Mental Fitness

Here you can link to more information on four pathways towards improved mental fitness, as well as some easy-to-follow mental fitness tips.

• Get physical
• Eat right
• Manage Your Resources
• Get involved!
  

Benefits of Good Mental Health

Just as physical fitness helps our bodies to stay strong, mental fitness helps us to achieve and sustain a state of good mental health.

When we are mentally healthy, we enjoy our life and environment, and the people in it. We can be creative, learn, try new things, and take risks. We are better able to cope with difficult times in our personal and professional lives. We feel the sadness and anger that can come with the death of a loved one, a job loss or relationship problems and other difficult events, but in time, we are able to get on with and enjoy our lives once again.

Nurturing our mental health can also help us combat or prevent the mental health problems that are sometimes associated with a chronic physical illness. In some cases, it can prevent the onset or relapse of a physical or mental illness. Managing stress well, for instance, can have a positive impact on heart disease.

Chances are, you are already taking steps to sustain your mental health, as well as your physical health – you just might not realize it.  

Mental Fitness Tips

The first step is to be aware of your emotional well-being.  Assess your emotional health regularly. Consider the particular demands or stresses you are facing and how they are affecting you. Give yourself permission to take a break from your worries and concerns. Recognize that dedicating even a short time every day to your mental fitness will reap significant benefits in terms of feeling rejuvenated and more confident.  Here are some simple ways to practice mental fitness:

1. Daydream – Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a dream location. Breathe slowly and deeply. Whether it’s a beach, a mountaintop, a hushed forest or a favourite room from your past, let the comforting environment wrap you in a sense of peace and tranquility.
2. “Collect” happy moments – Make it a point to recall times when you have experienced pleasure, comfort, tenderness, confidence, or other positive things.
3. Learn ways to cope with negative thoughts – Negative thoughts can be insistent and loud. Learn to interrupt them. Don’t try to block them (that never works), but don’t let them take over. Try distracting yourself or comforting yourself, if you can’t solve the problem right away.
4. Do one thing at a time – For example, when you are out for a walk or spending time with friends, turn off your cell phone and stop making that mental “to do” list.  Take in all the sights, sounds and smells you encounter.
5. Exercise – Regular physical activity improves psychological well-being and can reduce depression and anxiety. Joining an exercise group or a gym can also reduce loneliness, since it connects you with a new set of people sharing a common goal.
6. Enjoy hobbies – Taking up a hobby brings balance to your life by allowing you to do something you enjoy because you want to do it, free of the pressure of everyday tasks. It also keeps your brain active.
7. Set personal goals – Goals don’t have to be ambitious.  You might decide to finish that book you started three years ago; to take a walk around the block every day; to learn to knit or play bridge; to call your friends instead of waiting for the phone to ring. Whatever goal you set, reaching it will build confidence and a sense of satisfaction.
8. Keep a journal (or even talk to the wall!) – Expressing yourself after a stressful day can help you gain perspective, release tension, and even boost your body’s resistance to illness. 
9. Share humour – Life often gets too serious, so when you hear or see something that makes you smile or laugh, share it with someone you know. A little humour can go a long way to keeping us mentally fit!
10. Volunteer – Volunteering is called the “win-win” activity because helping others makes us feel good about ourselves. At the same time, it widens our social network, provides us with new learning experiences and can bring balance to our lives.
11. Treat yourself well – Cook yourself a good meal. Have a bubble bath. See a movie. Call a friend or relative you haven’t talked to in ages. Sit on a park bench and breathe in the fragrance of flowers and grass. Whatever it is, do it just for you.

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