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The Bigger Picture

Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Mental Health Issue

Sexual abuse in childhood can leave scars that can last for a long time. Sexual abuse is any sexual contact between a child and an adult, or using a child for sexual purposes. It’s often done by someone the child knows and trusts.

Criminal Justice

These resources and fact sheets were developed through our projects on mental health and the criminal justice system.

Cross-cultural Mental Health

Our communities are culturally diverse. We know that mental health and substance use problems affect everyone, regardless of their background, culture or ethnicity, but current mental health and substance use services may not be able to respond to the diverse needs of our community members.

Engaging People with Lived Experience

Embracing the voice of people with mental illness and addiction is one of the key values of CMHA. This workbook is designed to help CMHA and other like-minded service providers bring this value to life through their work.

Evaluating Mental Health and Substance Use Information

With all of the information coming at us these days, it can be hard to filter out what is good information and what information isn’t so good. With all of the information out there, how do you know what information you can trust?

Family and Youth Peer Support

The Strengthening Family and Youth Voices project was a province-wide project exploring the role of peer support in child and youth mental health.

Housing

Decent, safe, affordable housing is one of the most important factors that affect our mental health. Poor housing, such as housing that’s too expensive, run-down or over-crowded, can lead to poor overall health. It can also make recovery from mental health or substance use problems much more difficult.

Mental Illness and Substance Use in the Workplace

One in five of us will experience a mental illness or substance use problem at some point in our lifetime. Even though these health issues can affect the way we work, many people don’t seek help because they fear they will lose the respect of co-workers—or even lose their job.

Myths About Mental Illness

Mental illnesses affect everyone in some way. We all likely know someone who has experienced a mental illness at some point. Yet there are still many hurtful attitudes around mental illnesses that fuel stigma and discrimination and make it harder to reach out for help. It’s time to look at the facts.

Privacy and Information Sharing Resources

These guides are to serve as reference tools for practitioners, individuals and families that access the mental health and substance use system of care.

Stigma and Discrimination

About one in five people—over six and a half million Canadians—experience a mental illness or substance use problem in their lifetime. Unfortunately, many people don’t ask for help because they feel ashamed or scared. People may judge them and treat them negatively based on a mental health or substance use problem.

Training for Police and Other First Responders

Learn about crisis intervention and mental health training available for police and other first responders.

Unemployment, Mental Health and Substance Use

Seventy to 90% of people living with serious mental illnesses in Canada are unemployed. Research tells us that most people living with a serious mental illness want to work, but few do find work—and, often, the work doesn’t meet their goals or abilities.

Violence, Mental Illness and Substance Use

We see mental illness, substance use and violence connected often—in the news, on TV shows, and in movies. The relationship between violence, mental illnesses and substance use is more complex than we see in the media.
Many different factors increase the risk of violence.

Visions: BC’s Mental Health and Addictions Journal

Visions is an award-winning quarterly magazine that brings together many views on mental health and substance use. It’s a place to explore different aspects of wellness, share your own experiences, learn from others, and discuss ideas.

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