Mental Health

Cassidy Copenace

Reading Time: 5 minutes“Whenever I was struggling with the thought of wanting to hurt myself, or wanting to go out and drink, I would bead until I didn’t feel that way anymore,” said Cassidy Copenace, a 21 year-old living in Naotkamegwanning First Nation. “Even if I was beading all night, and if I was tired, I would just keep going until I was either super tired, or I just didn’t feel the way I did before I started doing my beadwork.”

Headshot of Professor Elizabeth Kristjansson

Reading Time: 5 minutes“I think always being honest and always being open to whatever people have to tell me and being honest about synthesizing that information and bringing it forward. I don’t have a whip, I don’t have much power, but I do have people listening to me,” says Elizabeth Kristjansson, the University of Ottawa’s new advisor on mental health and wellness

From left to right, Kora Uveitis, Alexis Snell and Coreena Ethridge

Reading Time: 4 minutes ‘I’m literally holding people’s hands while they die because their family members can’t be there and I’m burying bodies, but you’re going to party with your friends and you’re the reason why these people are dying. That was really, really tough for me.’ says Alexis Snell a fourth-year nursing student

Reading Time: 3 minutesTwo University of Ottawa students, Eve Staszczyszyn and Livia Han have worked with students from the University of Waterloo BETS Program and the Queen’s Center for Advanced Computing to develop Wellness World; a portal aimed to combat the mental health crisis centered around the U of O community.

Reading Time: 2 minutesSeasonal affective disorder is a form of depression that typically peaks in the winter months, impacting up to 15 per cent of Canadians during their lifetime. We spoke with Ottawa psychologist Dr. Marna Zinatelli on what the illness is and how it can be treated and managed.

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