CMHA’s National Mental Health Week: Understanding our Emotions

This year, the theme of CMHA’s annual Mental Health Week is understanding our emotions. Recognizing, labeling and accepting our feelings are all part of protecting and promoting good mental health for everyone. Naming, expressing and dealing with our emotions – even when they’re uncomfortable – can make us feel better.

“Emotion regulation is not about not feeling. Neither is it exerting tight control over what we feel. And it's not about banishing negative emotions and feeling only positive ones. Rather, emotion regulation starts with giving ourselves and others the permission to own our feelings—all of them.” -Marc Brackett in Permission to Feel

Good mental health isn’t about being happy all the time. In fact, a mentally healthy life includes the full range of human emotions—even the uncomfortable ones like sadness, fear and anger. If your emotions are overwhelming, persistent and/or are interfering with your daily functioning, it’s important to seek mental health support. There are a variety of wellness supports available on the COVID-19 Wellness Resources web page.

1 in 5 Canadians experiences mental illness or a mental health issue in any given year, but 5 in 5 of us – that’s all of us – has mental health. Regardless of whether or not we have a mental illness, our mental health is something we can protect and nurture. Emotional well-being includes recognizing what influences our emotions, discovering how our emotions affect the way we think or act, taking action when our emotional response isn’t helpful and learning to accept them.

Join workshops and events offered throughout Be Well, Be Safe Week to continue building your wellness toolbox to help you thrive and navigate challenging times.

Explore practical advice, articles and information to help you #GetReal about how you really feel: https://mentalhealthweek.ca/info-articles/.