Mental Health Week: May 6 – 12, 2019
Mental health is about more than being happy all the time. It’s about feeling good about who you are, having balance in your life, and managing life’s highs and lows #GetLoud about what mental health really is.
How to Participate:
Wear a Green Shirt!
Choose a day between May 6-12 for you and your coworkers/class/family/friends to wear green shirts together. Snap a group photo and tag us @CMHANL. Don’t have a green shirt? Print our Mental Health Week graphics to hold up in your picture!
Light It Up Green!
Put a green light bulb above your front door or use green lights in your window. Share a photo of your home, business, or community lit up in green and tag us @CMHANL.
Make a Donation!
Make a donation online to the Canadian Mental Health Association, Newfoundland & Labrador Division. Fundraised money can be donated in person or by mailing a cheque to our Head Office in St. John’s.
Don’t forget to post a picture of yourself and/or your group with your green shirts and/or green lights on social media using #LightItUpGreenNL and tag us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Mental Health Week Events
About Mental Health Week
• CMHA Mental Health Week takes place the first full week in May every year.
• This year, CMHA Mental Health Week is being observed May 6-12, 2019.
• The first annual Mental Health Week was in 1951; this is its 68th year.
• The week has focused on reducing the stigma of mental illness and promoting good mental health for all Canadians.
About the 2019 campaign
• The 2019 campaign core message is “Get loud about what mental health really is.”
• Many Canadians confuse the terms mental health and mental illness and use them interchangeably—this confusion contributes to the stigma of mental illness; it divides people into those who experience mental illness and those who don’t.
• When people understand that mental health is something we ALL have, they realize that mental health is everyone’s issue—we all benefit from celebrating, promoting and acknowledging the role that good mental health plays in living a full and meaningful life.
What mental health really is
• Diverse evidence from across Canada and around the world indicates that there are six common features of good mental health: a sense of self, a sense of purpose, of belonging, contribution, enjoyment and resilience.
• To help explain these six features to the general public and to put mental health into everyday language, CMHA created illustrations that reflect the real faces of Canada.
• These illustrations express in real terms what mental health looks like to them:
I don’t worry too much about what people think of me.
I feel like I’m reaching my potential.
I feel like I belong.
I make the world a better place.
I enjoy my life.
Knock me down and I’ll get back up again.
How we’re doing on reducing stigma
We’re not there yet, but when you ask Canadians, we’re on our way to eliminating the stigma that is associated with mental illness.
A recent survey found that:
• 57% of Canadians believe that the stigma associated with mental illness has been reduced compared to five years ago.
• 81% are more aware of mental health issues compared to five years ago.
• 70% believe attitudes about mental health issues have changed for the better compared to five years ago.
Mental Health Week in the community
• In addition to the online social media campaign to support CMHA Mental Health week, CMHA offices in 330 locations host hundreds of events and activities across Canada.
• Partner organizations, municipalities, workplaces, schools, celebrities and politicians get involved, hosting their own events and getting loud on social media using CMHA’s communications tools and messages.
• To download the Communications Toolkit or the School Toolkit, or to learn more about your own mental health and how to get involved in Mental Health Week, please visit www.mentalhealthweek.ca.