Depression is a mood disorder that has both psychological and physical effects. Many people dismiss it as “just a mood problem,” but depression is more than just that. Depression is a real illness, and as such, requires proper treatment to be overcome. The WHO estimates that around 300 million people are affected by depression...
Category: Youth Counselling
How to Make the Most of Your Summer: Mental Health Tips for Teens
Most teens look forward to the summer break. Plans are excitedly made before school ends. However, many can get bored by the second week of summer break. Sadly, this boredom can make things take a turn for the worse. Too many teens spend the bulk of their summer break staying indoors playing computer games,...
How to Cope with the Mental & Emotional Health Effects of Bullying
Chances are unfortunately high that any of us, at some point in our lives, will have an experience related to bullying, be it directly or indirectly. It may vary in intensity and circumstance, but all forms of bullying potentially pose a major issue. Why? Because bullying can happen anywhere, from schools to playgrounds, in...
Mental Health Benefits of Staying Active While Young
Having an active lifestyle is a great way to keep one’s body in top shape. Many studies have found the various benefits that exercise provides. These benefits range from reducing the risk of developing diseases to keeping the body systems in perfect working order. What some people may not know, however, is that exercise...
Legal or Not – the Effects of Marijuana Use Among Teens
“Self-medication” with marijuana has been an ongoing issue for decades. With the recent legalization of controlled cannabis sales in Canada, however, there may be some confusion amongst youth as to the safety and advisability of marijuana use. Many people – youth included – are under the misunderstanding that cannabis is a blanket “cure” or “remedy”...
Addressing the Challenges of Seasonal Affective Disorder Among Young People
As fall leaves begin to change colour and the seasons begin to change in drastic ways, we can all expect the cold to kick in, the amount of sunlight to reduce, and our moods to shift as a result. This is particularly the case as folks begin to slow down in terms of their activity...
Finding Strategies to Deal With the Back-to-School Blues
Back-to-school is often a very exciting time for students – a time when they can see their friends again, show off their new wardrobe, and take the new classes that they have been looking forward to since the summer. But school can also be a time when a young person’s depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder...
Self-Harm, Depression & Your Teen
Teenage Self-Harming Seeing evidence of your child self-harming, or hurting themselves with intention, can be a terrifying experience for a parent. In addition to the fear, you may be unsure of what to do or say, and want desperately to stop the behaviour. This is a common experience for many parents, as the instances of self-harm...
Youth Depression: What to Know and How to Help
“Feeling blue” or feeling “down in the dumps” is a normal part of being a teenager. There are many moments in one’s adolescence when they experience upsets or moments of sadness. Experts remind us that adolescence can be a very unsettling time and teens can be faced with an array of physical, emotional, psychological and...
Could Your Child Be Addicted To Video Games? WHO Announces “Gaming Disorder”
In its latest revision to an international disease classification manual the World Health Organization announced “gaming disorder” as a new mental health condition included in the 11th edition of its International Classification of Diseases. Dr. Henrietta Bowden-Jones, a spokesperson for behavioural addictions at Britain’s Royal College of Psychiatrists said,”We come across parents who are distraught,...