Understanding Mental Illness

It can be hard to know whether someone’s behaviour is a result of a difficult emotional phase or a signal of mental illness.

Mental illness fundamentally changes the way a person thinks, feels and acts. It’s not an illness that changes one thing about you; living with a mental illness can change many moments of your everyday life. This resource is designed to help you and others understand mental illness; the signs and symptoms, a day in the life of living with a mental illness, stories of recovery and survival, and what you can do to help yourself and others.

Read the featured articles, participate in the poll, explore the additional resources on workhealthlife.com and share with others via social media to raise awareness and spark conversations about this important topic. Follow us on Twitter @shepellfgi and help make #mentalhealth a trending topic today!

Articles

Recognizing and Responding to Signs of Mental Illness

Short-lived feelings of isolation, sadness, loneliness or distress are part of being human, but when these emotions remain unchanged over time and start to interfere with day-to-day tasks and overall well-being, they could be signs of mental illness.

A Day in the Life of Living with Depression

I awake to find myself exhausted, again. It’s the depression combined with a hangover from the medications I must take at night. I drag my body, aching for another two hours of sleep, out of bed and into the bathroom. I look into the mirror and see what I feared...

Recovery from mental illness is not the same as recovery from, say, a broken arm. Natalie Jeanne Champagne, author of The Third Sunrise, A Memoir of Madness, explains, The definition of recovery, the very roots of the word, mean[s] to be healed or to be cured. People are not cured of mental illness but we do heal, and we do recover.

Return to Work, Friends and Routine after Mental Illness

Approximately 50% of long-term absences from work are attributable to mental illnesses. An understanding of these absences helps those returning to work and those who support them plan for and facilitate a successful return to work and life.

Resilience is the ability to adapt to and bounce back from life's changes, adversities and setbacks. When we are resilient, we are able to harness our inner resources in order to keep going forward. So how can we become more resilient and stay mentally healthy?

Which resiliency tip do you apply most often in your life?

Focus on my physical well-being through fitness and proper nutrition.

Choose to be positive rather than negative.

Share my feelings and concerns with people whom I trust.

Do not currently apply any resiliency tips.

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