Did you know that 27% of Canadians are fearful of being around people who suffer from a serious mental illness? (Canadian Medical Association). This past October, Watters Environmental participated in Health Awareness Month, with a focus on mental health. Our goal by the end of the month was that all our team members would be better educated and reduce any stigmas at work, at home, or in their daily lives that they encounter associated with mental disorders.
Each week we focused on a different type of mental disorder (Dementia, Anxiety Disorders, Eating Disorders, and Mood Disorders) and gave our team some insightful information, supportive resources, video clips and a challenge to partake in. The following is a summary of some of the information that was shared with our team, and are hopefully resources that you can benefit from:
Dementia
We started our mental health month with a discussion about Dementia – a disease that affects 1.1 Million Canadians, directly or indirectly (Alzheimer Society). It is an incredibly difficult for all those involved, and sometimes hard for people to understand.
Fact: 25,000 is the number of new cases of dementia diagnosed every year
Challenge: Watch this powerful video – 12 Minutes in Alzheimer’s Dementia. Then take this quiz and find out where you stand in regards to some of the misinformation and stereotypes of Dementia – Click Here
Eating Disorders
Our second week we focused on Eating Disorders.
Fact: Did you know the average person sees 400 to 600 ads per day, and by the age of 17 has seen more than 250,000 commercial media images? (Shepell, 2005).
Challenge: Watch the video – Eating Disorders: Beyond the Myths
Our third week focused on Anxiety and the different types of anxiety disorders. We provided information on five common types, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, Phobias, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Anxiety Disorders
Fact: Daniel Radcliffe, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Megan Fox and Justin Timberlake are all celebrities who have lived with OCD (dosomething.org).
Challenge: We challenged the Watters Environmental team to our version of the 22 Push-Up Challenge. The challenge stems from the statistic in the United States that states an average of 22 Veterans commit suicide every day. The challenge is meant to raise awareness and funds for veterans’ issues (including mental health), through organizations such as Wounded Warriors.
