Several University of Ottawa students pushed for immediate action on improving the school’s mental health system at a town hall discussion for the faculty of arts on Wednesday, with many asking president Jacques Frémont for concrete next steps on how he plans to address the situation.
“It’s a scary world … I’m just thankful to not have been a teenager in the world of the iPhone.” — Lynne McInally, clinical social worker, therapist and instructor at Humber College.
When it comes to chronic pain, mental and physical illness are often inextricably linked.
“For some people it’s almost a joke, like ‘yeah yeah yeah I had my ADHD day yesterday … when we know … it’s so different to have it 24/7.”
While we’re devoting our love and time to helping loved ones, we can often forget to take care of our own well-being in the process. This means taking some time each day to check in with your own mental health and having the courage to realize you might need some time to yourself to care for your own health.
For some regular cannabis consumers, the immediacy of relaxation that cannabis brings on has been enough of a reason to consider it as a day-to-day treatment for anxiety and stress.
“It’s a responsibility I think as healthcare providers to be able to understand and to be more sensitized to the different backgrounds your patients are coming from. I’m sitting here in your office, you’re my therapist, it’s not my job to be like ‘Well no, this is how immigrant parents think.’ You need to step up and educate yourself.”
The Fulcrum spoke to three students with different perspectives on youth political involvement to explore their insights and opinions into mental health. It became a brief but telling exploration of the challenges, supports, and lessons of staying healthy in the halls of power.
When the only thing we can do is hate ourselves, you remind us of all the reasons to do the opposite. When we can’t love ourselves, you do.
“These are the things I hold close when I remember that while growing up I contended with some things that no ten-year-old should.”
