What is Mental Health?
Mental health involves finding a balance in all aspects of your life — physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It is the ability to enjoy life and deal with the challenges you face every day — whether that involves making choices and decisions, adapting to and coping in difficult situations or talking about your needs and desires.
Just as your life and circumstances continually change, so do your moods and thoughts, and your sense of well-being. It’s important to find balance in your life over time and in a range of situations. It’s natural to feel off balance at times: for example, sad, worried, scared or suspicious. But these kinds of feelings may become a problem if they get in the way of your daily life over a long period.
What Contributes to Mental Health Problems?
There are many beliefs why people have mental health problems. Scientific studies suggest that many serious mental health problems involve biochemical disturbances in the brain. Professionals also believe that various psychological, social and environmental factors affect your well-being. As well, mental health is affected by the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual parts of your life. Stress can affect how you cope in any or all of these areas and can make it harder to manage day-to-day activities. You may have difficulty coping because you lack new skills and information that could help you.
You and your health care provider need to work together to identify the problem, what may have caused or contributed to your difficulties and how you can be helped. Whatever the cause, you should know that mental health problems are not your fault. No one chooses to have a problem.
Source:Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
There are a number of resources in Sarnia-Lambton if you have questions about mental health or are looking for help to treat your mental illness.
Community Mental Health Association of Lambton (CSAL)
Community Mental Health Association offers help to those 16 years or older coping with a mental illness. CMHA runs a confidential crisis line that you can call 24 hours a day for help and information. There is no cost to access these services.
The crisis line number is 519-336-3445.
210 Lochiel Street
Sarnia, ON, N7T 4C7
Consumer Survivors Association of Sarnia Lambton
Consumer Survivors Association of Lambton provides peer to peer services to individuals struggling with mental health issues as well as support to their family members. CSAL runs the Open Doors Drop-In Centre, a safe place for those with mental health problems to participate in social activities, learn life skills and receive support. All services are free.
183 Christina Street South
Sarnia, Ontario N7T 2M9
519-344-5602
For a full list of mental health services in Lambton County, visit the Mental Health Helpline.
Information on mental health is also available in multiple languages.
