Mental Health Crisis Support

Free resources for Emergency support:

If you are thinking about harming yourself or you are concerned about someone, please reach out for help…

Following are links to some wonderful and much needed sources of support.

For Crisis Support

Talk Suicide Canada has a network of 11 distress centres across the country with trained crisis responders providing nationwide, 24-hour, bilingual support to anyone who is facing suicide.

Their website is easy to access and read and is filled with helpful information, including but not limited to:

• education about suicide
• ways to cope
• ways to feel safer in the moment
• advice on talking about how you’re feeling
• community resources
• signs you may be struggling
• how to get help for someone else

Wellness Check

If you are concerned about the welfare of someone—whether it’s a loved one who has dropped out of touch or a neighbour you haven’t seen in while—you can contact local police in the person’s town and ask for a wellness check. If there is reason to believe that there may be an emergency, call 911.

NOTE: The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) expresses concern about whether the Police should be the ones conducting Wellness Checks: “… Police are not trained in crisis care and should not be expected to lead this important work.”

“Recent events have exposed the tragic outcomes that can occur when people with mental illness experience a crisis in the community and are not able to get the care that they need,” the statement reads. “Racism and anti-Black racism compound these crisis interactions.”

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/camh-urges-alternative-to-police-for-mental-health-checks-1.4999064?cache=xvlushbbrzkwk%3FcontactForm%3Dtrue

https://thelawdictionary.org/article/what-is-a-police-welfare-check/

Spiritual Advisor

If you are part of a spiritual/religious community remember that you can reach out to your community leaders or trusted members, if you feel safe and comfortable in doing so. If you are a spiritual person but are not connected to any community, there are many sources of free content that help people find their value and worth and to deal with the tremendous stresses and anxieties that so many people are living with:

Byron Katie’s four liberating questions are offered for free on her website and she also coaches people directly in a livestream a few times a week:
https://thework.com/2017/10/four-liberating-questions/
https://thework.com/at-home-with-byron-katie/

Panache Desai, whose message is that “you are enough” offers a free daily meditation:
https://www.panachedesai.com/call-to-calm-meditations/

Eckhart Tolle and Kim Eng offer free teachings and meditations to help people get out of their pain body and become more present:
https://eckharttolle.com/free-resources/