Defence Team Mental Health Week – May 2-8
About Mental Health Week
Mental Health Week is a Canadian tradition where schools, communities, and workplaces come together to celebrate, protect, and promote mental health. This year’s theme is all about empathy and how to #GetReal about mental health.
Every year since 1951, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) has held Mental Health Week (You are now leaving the Government of Canada website) in the first full week of May, with this year’s edition running from May 2-8.
What’s happening across Defence for this year’s Mental Health Week
#GetReal about Mental Health with Canadian Olympian and Paralympian, Melissa Bishop and Cindy Ouellet!
ADM HR-Civ invites you to join a conversation with Canadian Olympian, Melissa Bishop and Paralympian, and Cindy Ouellet, about overcoming mental health challenges and what physical activities has done for them!
English Session
- Date: May 4, 2021
- Time: 1:30-2:30pm (ET)
- Speaker: Melissa Bishop, Canadian Olympic Track & Field Athlete
French Session
- Date: May 5, 2021
- Time: 11:00-12:00pm (ET)
- Speaker: Cindy Ouellet, Canadian Paralympian in wheelchair basketball and Para-Nordic skiing
Location: Virtual (Microsoft Live Events). A link to the virtual presentation will be provided to registered participants.
Virtual Event on “Preventing and Managing Burnout at Work” by the Canadian School of Public Service (CSPS)
Thursday, May 5, 2022
In partnership with the Centre of Expertise on Mental Health in the Workplace, the Canadian School of Public Service (CSPS) is hosting a special Mental Health Week virtual event on the subject of preventing and managing burnout at work. This special event will be hosted from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm (ET) on May 5 and registration is required by 10:00am on May 5. Learn more and register about this event on the CSPS’s webpage.
Empathy – The Key to Unlocking the Crisis of Connection
Friday, May 6, 2022
Mental health has never before been as publicly discussed as it is now. With each discussion, we shed some of the shame that has historically been associated with poor mental health or with mental illness. It is becoming more the norm to speak about our physical health and our mental health in the same breath.
Self-empathy is considered central to mental health and empathy for others is the secret sauce to successful relationships throughout the lifespan. Loneliness and a poverty of relationships bode badly for our mental health. Empathy allows us to understand ourselves and to understand the other, breaking the crisis of connection we find in our modern world.
This workshop will discuss the role of empathic listening in creating authentic conversations socially between adults, workplace conversations, and conversation between parents and children.
- Date: May 6, 2022
- Time: 1:00-2:30pm (ET)
- Speaker: Mary Gordon, Founder and President of Roots of Empathy
Location: Virtual (Microsoft Stream). A link to the virtual presentation will be provided to registered participants.
Information: Get Support
If you need urgent help, you can call the Employee Assistance Program Line at 1-800-268-7708. They are available to offer support 24/7.
For CAF members and their families, you can call the Member Assistance Program at 1-800-268-7708. If your family members are in need of support and resources, they can reach out to the Family Information Line at 1-800-866-4546 24/7.
Mental Health Week Resource Hub
- Defence Team COVID-19 - Mental Health and Wellness Resources
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Canadian Forces Member Assistance Program (CFMAP)
- Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy
- Canadian Mental Health Association (You are now leaving the Government of Canada website)
- Mental Health Week Toolkit (You are now leaving the Government of Canada website)
- Ways to #GetReal about mental health (You are now leaving the Government of Canada website)
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