On the 70th anniversary of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Week, the theme is Emotional Literacy. This includes the skills of naming, expressing, and coping with our emotions (the ones we like and the ones we don’t), and their importance for our overall mental health.
Heavy feelings lighten when you put them into words. When we voice our emotions, the pain gives way. So, let’s understand and name how we feel. We have to name it if we want to tame it. Angry? Glad? Frustrated? Sad? Lonely? Relieved? Even in times of extreme anxiety and stress, mental health is something we can protect, not just something we can lose. Emotional literacy is one way to help do just that.
This Mental Health Week, don’t be uncomfortably numb. #GetReal about how you feel. And name it, don’t numb it. For information and articles offering practical advice to help you #GetReal, visit www.mentalhealthweek.ca and click on “Info & Articles” at the top of the page.
To coincide with Mental Health week, our May Newsletter addresses some additional aspects of emotional literacy. You can find the newsletter under the Wellness Resources tab of the webpage. You can also find the link on our Facebook page.
