Free Mental Health Resources in Canada & Manitoba
September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day and thanks to it, there are many much needed and important conversations being had. How can we prevent suicide? Or as I like to think of it: how can we increase peoples’ wellness so that suicide never has to become an option? And as usual, the talking is only the beginning and much more important are the actions we take to move systems to be better.
From all the research I have done, and the people I have lost in my own life, I know that people who have died by suicide were feeling extreme pain and didn’t know how to solve it. With that in mind, I think that a lot of the hurting I see around me today is a result of people feeling isolated and not being able to take good care of their mental health.
Resources From Across Canada
I compiled a list of things you could do during the pandemic for your mental health (click here) but I also feel it is important to share some free resources that people can access across Canada to take care of their mental health
Wellness Together Canada - this website has toolkits, backgrounders and links to other helpful websites around mental health. They have some self assessments, site navigator helper types, curriculums and other helpful pieces of information so you can have a better and broader understanding of mental health and how it is commonly cared for.
Kids Help Phone Texting Service / 686868 - By simply sending a text message to 686868, kids across Canada can be connected to a trained mental health responder 24 hours a day and seven days a week. I am also working with Kids Help Phone & their Indigenous Advisory Council to increase the amount of Indigenous crisis responders. This would help with another future plan I’d love to see and that’s finding a way to match Indigenous kids when requested when they message KHP, with Indigenous responders, to increase cultural safety/sensitivity.
Adult Texting Service / 741741 - Similar to the Kids Help Phone service, but for everyone! Send these folks a message and they should get back to you 24/7. This rolled out earlier in 2020 as the global pandemic struck the country.
Hope For Wellness Helpline / 1-855-242-3310 - Available for all Indigenous people to call and speak to culturally competent mental health helpers. I have not personally used this service, but think it is a good idea that we have it.
Kids Help Phone / Resources Around Me - If you are looking for additional mental health supports that are more local to your community, may I recommend that you take a look at this online tool that helps you find mental health resources based on the address or community you type in.
Resources in Manitoba
We do have some unique situations in Manitoba when it comes to mental health. I think the high rate of children in care, Indigenous people being over-represented in negative health outcomes and the high rate of harmful substance use are a few of the factors that come to mind.
Manitoba suicide Line / 1-877-435-7170 - The reasontolive.ca website as well as the corresponding line allow people in Manitoba to be connected to suicide prevention and support services.
211 Manitoba - This is a fantastic web based resource where you can sort the community resources you need by different themes and topic areas such as youth, lgbtq+, homelessness and more! Someday, it will be a phone number you can call at anytime as well (soon…)
What Next?
What happens when this global day of attention passes us by? Luckily for us, all the resources I shared are available all year round. I think after today, it is going to come down to you and me doing our part to make sure our loved ones know we love them, we are here for them and we will do whatever we can to make sure they have access to the mental health supports they need so we can prevent suicide. I also think we have to be more on purpose, leading by example and communicating more with people when our feelings are a certain way and make us behave differently so that we can de-stigmatize the process of reaching out and asking for help with our own mental wellness. The one thing we can all do, is use our influence & privilege in the many spaces and systems we find ourselves in to increase access to mental health supports for the many in our communities who still have to deal with suicide and the many ripple effects too often.
I know I say this all the time, but today especially, and on this topic especially: let’s get to work.
