Mental Health Week

Presentation
Chris Hill
Social Worker
 Goals for Today
Share some statistics about Youth
Mental Health in our area
Talk about Mental Health from a
personal perspective
Discuss strategies for building mental
wellness
Have a discussion about what each of us
can do to build mental wellness within
ourselves and within our community
 Groundrules
Even though this is a serious topic, I
hope to try to balance the
conversation with some fun
Be positive
Keep an open mind
This is only a beginning of a
conversation about mental health
What day is Today?
 Those are the droids youre
looking for.
 Those arent the droids youre
looking for.
Time for a Jedi Mind
Trick
(Play video)
What does selective
attention have to do
with Mental Health?
 Stigma
Mistaken Assumptions
Ignoring the Gorilla in
the room
Source: http://www.hkpr.on.ca/Portals/0/PDF%20Files/PDF%20-%20Epi/MentalHealth-
info.pdf
 What % of HKPR students saw a professional
about emotional health in 2013?

A) 5.2%
B) 15.6 %
C) 24.7%
D) 31.0%
 24.7% of HKPR students saw a
professional about emotional health in
2013
What percentage of HKPR students reported moderate
to high levels of psychological distress in 2013?

20.3%
24.8%
27.6%
32.9%
 HKPR students more likely to
report moderate to high levels of
psychological distress 32.9% vs.
26.29% Ontario average
 How many HKPR students
reported feeling depressed over
the previous 4 weeks?

1 in 10
3 in 10
4 in 10
6 in 10
How many HKPR students reported feelings of
worthlessness over the previous 4 weeks?

1 in 5
1 in 4
1 in 3
1 in 2
 What percentage of HKPR reported seriously
considering suicide over the past year?

10.5%
17.5%
20%
25%
17.5% of HKPR students reported they had seriously
considered attempting suicide
(vs. 13.3% provincial average)
 What percentage of HKPR students reported
attempting suicide in the past 12 months?

1.5%
4.3%
6.1%
7.3%
 My Story
Bright, pretty happy kid growing up
Bored easily in class, could do homework
fast if interested, would do it last minute,
a lot of anxiety about big projects, often
handed things in late
Grade 4, parents separated, money
became tight, stress
Grade 6, teachers pet, academic
achievement award (about a 90% overall
average)
 Grade 7-8
Started at a new school for Junior HS
Best friend moved away before the
school year started
Father became estranged from the
family, no visits
Grandmother passed away that year
from cancer
Pretty bad acne combined with being a
bit socially awkward - bullying
 Grade 7-8 continue
Got into a habit of getting up in the middle of the
night watching TV, exhausted all day, crash after
school
Not packing lunches, hungry all day
Really bored at school, but also not getting math
and science like I used to
Skipped about 20+ days of school, acting sick but
really stressed about getting picked on and not
getting assignments done
Marks dropped to 50s and 60s
Felt a lot of shame
Saw a social worker in the spring which helped a
bit
 Grade 9-13 (OAC)
High School was better
Marks in the 70s
Challenged handing things in on time, doing readings,
studying
Playing a lot of video games
Much more on track sleeping, but Monday mornings
were always hardest
Was really good at SchoolReach (HS team was Toronto
Champs in grade 12) and also Model Parliament
Grade 13 (OAC) made a shift to handing everything in
on time, marks jumped 10% to mid 80s
 Queens
Could do really well in courses I was
interested in,
Courses I didnt like I lost motivation
for, handing things in late
No one to be accountable to, started
staying up really late (playing video
games or cramming to get a paper
written last minute) and then
sleeping in/skipping classes
 Queens Cont.
Got so upside down one year with
that I had missed seeing the spring
changes and shocked myself by
going for a walk in May and seeing
how green everything had become
 Queens
Ended up dropping out of Queens in
fourth year as I had gotten (in my
mind) too far behind on my thesis
and just became too anxious and
unmotivated to keep going
Positives: counselling and started
volunteering in the social services
 Peterborough
A year after dropping out of Queens, I
moved back home with my mother
who was now in Peterborough
Met my wife in a Tai Chi class
Shared with her about my depression
She encouraged me to apply to group
homes and (to my surprise) I ended
up getting a full time job in a group
home for troubled kids in foster care
 Social Work
After about 5 years working I decided
maybe I could go back to school
I was really interested and
passionate about working in foster
care and needed more education to
advance my career
I was scared of failing again though
 Social Work
I needed to have a completed degree
before I could start the social work
program
Working up my nerve, I called up Queens
to figure out what I needed to do to finish
what I had abandoned 8 years earlier
Turns out, I had completed enough credits
to have already earned my 3 year
Bachelor of Arts, Id just been too afraid
to deal with the mess
 Social Work
So, I Graduated from Queens 12
years after I started
York accepted me on probation into
the Social Work Program
Part-time Student
Part-time Working
Parent
Foster Parent
 Social Work
Managed with a lot of support by my
wife
Had a lot of anxiety around getting
assignments done and not
backsliding like in past
Knew I was going to have difficulty
with procrastinating around
assignments
 York
If I had a lot of work to do, Id go to
the library that stayed open latest in
Toronto and hang out, Without
distractions, I could wait out my
anxiety about getting started once
I did start Id get really focused and
could work hours non-stop
 Staying Organized,
Managing Stress
Posted big calendars outside my kitchen and plotted out
when everything was due and most importantly blocked
out the amount of time I had for each assignment
Sometimes I had to have an assignment done a month in
advance because of all the other things that were also due
Learned to break big tasks into smaller chunks, stayed on
track with completing the smaller tasks week by week
Graduated with Top Marks
Turned my past stress around being a failure into a new
story about struggling and overcoming personal
challenges and reducing stigma
Personal Take Aways
Its Ok if Youre Not Perfect
 Dont Be Afraid to
Talk about Feelings
Time-Management
Follow Your Passion and Do What
Gets You Excited to Start the Day
Sleep
 80/20
Dont Be Afraid to Face Your Fears
Believe in Yourself
When I gets replaced by
We, then even Illness
becomes Wellness
Who Can I talk to?
 Resources
Family
Friends
Professionals
- teachers, guidance counselors
- doctor/nurse practitioner who can refer for
counseling/psychiatry if needed
- Kinark Child and Family Services
- Hospital
- 4 County Crisis
- Kidshelpphone.ca
Questions?