World Mental Health Day: Coping Strategies

Written by Sathya Mathiyalagan

October 10th, 2024

 

In honor of World Mental Health Day, October 10, 2024, Uottawa Lab2Life would like to talk about mental health and coping strategies for mental health awareness in this article. Mental Health is still a taboo topic in many areas around the world, but Canada is successfully bringing more awareness about mental health and ways to combat it. It is seen that 45.1% of post-secondary students endure higher than average stress levels and 35% of post-secondary students are diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder1. 

 

It is important to keep ourselves aware about simple coping strategies that can help with mental health. Simple coping strategies include: 

 

• Getting enough sleep 

• Doing enjoyable activities (playing sports, painting, dancing, etc.) 

• Deep Breathing

• Healthy Eating

• Join a support group

• Talk to people you trust 

• Get regular exercise

• Set goals and priorities 

• Journaling

 

All of the strategies listed above are simple strategies that can be done easily from the comfort of your home. It is also important to seek credible information as there is a lot of misleading information on the internet that can cause additional stress. Credible organizations for mental health include, “The World Health Organization, Health Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Health”2 and any other scholarly reviewed articles. Talking to healthcare professionals can also help in many scenarios but it can be nerve wracking opening up to someone we do not know. However we need to keep in mind that they are extremely knowledgeable in their profession and are willing to help those going through mental health difficulties. In order to make an appointment with a therapist you do not need a referral from a doctor. If therapy is given by a medical doctor it will also automatically be covered by OHIP. 

 

The Student Health and Wellness Centre in the University of Ottawa is also an amazing platform to reach out for help. They provide short-term personal counseling and therapy, support groups and other mental health services. The link to their contact is attached below for those who are interested. 

 

https://www.uottawa.ca/campus-life/health-wellness/student-health-wellness-centre/mental-health

 

Mental Health is important and the main thing to remember is that you are not alone. There will always be people willing to help and coping strategies that can be done independently. We hope this article helped you gain some knowledge about coping strategies. Please pass them along to any friends or family that you know who are suffering from mental health issues. We will be back next week with a brand new article!