Welcome to the Homewood Blog

We explore a wide range of contributing factors that parents and caregivers should be aware of, possible reasons as to why children and youth are having difficulty coping with life stressors.

In this article, we’re sharing information about how important and necessary it is to focus on yourself and what you can do to achieve better overall wellness.

Without stress relief, the long-term activation of the stress response system can have some destructive consequences.

You already know that exercise is necessary for a healthy body. But did you know it has mental health benefits too?

We’re sharing some of the ideas and realities we’ve uncovered about women’s mental health, including a look at the issue
through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings will acknowledge what’s happening for women today and suggest methods to move forward productively.

As we enter the depths of winter, we near almost one full year of evolving challenges related to COVID-19
and the disturbances that many have encountered as a result of the virus and it's profound impact on daily life, both personally and professionally.

In this article, we will look at ways to recognize discrimination and provide some suggestions on how to address it to change
behaviours, attitudes and take action.

Starting a new calendar year can be exciting and refreshing, but it can also be stressful

The onset of winter typically signifies the beginning of seasonal festivities, family traditions and holidays. This year we face a season of uncertainty, a reprieve of traditions, and social and physical distancing guidelines and mandates to combat the risk of infection and spread of COVID-19.

As we move into the last month of 2020, we know that traditional holiday celebrations will need to be reframed due to COVID-19. We've been living with gathering restrictions and adhering to public health guidelines intended to keep us protected and safe.

Are you approaching winter celebrations and the holiday season with apprehension? Regardless of religion or traditions, the approaching winter brings with it the close to a truly unique and challenging year.

Knowing how to gather safely for celebrations is essential tominimizing risks and doing your best to avoid exposure to and the spread of COVID-19.

Whether it has been the COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest, prejudicial injustice, environmental events such as fires and floods, or dramatic politics, 2020 has been a year of unique challenges and one for the record books, worldwide.

The trauma caused by acts of violence can and most often will have a significant emotional impact on people. The combination of atrocity and magnitude of the event, coupled with its unpredictability, will often lead to an intense feeling of vulnerability for our own safety and the safety of others.

When living with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, either as the person experiencing brain changes, or as someone in the role of caregiver, it’s important to try to anchor yourself in the present as much as possible.

For many people, 2020 has been surreal, challenging and upsetting. There has been no other time in recent history where so many significant events, from natural and man-made ecological disasters to political, cultural and social upheaval, have felt like shared experiences with people from all over the world. Each of these can build anxiety and contribute to stress that affects our mental health.

Workplace stress is identified as the culprit behind many personal and corporate challenges yet, there are several ways in which work can be a potential health resource.

By understanding the connections between mental health and addiction recovery, taking small and immediate actions and continuing to make emotional, physical and spiritual investments into your wellness, maintaining your overall health and recovery is possible - and can be enjoyable too.

Your future isn’t a far-off reality. It’s yours for the making and the taking and it starts right now!

But, much like the relationship status choice on a Facebook profile, it can also be complicated.

With evolving demands, challenges faced in our everyday lives, and with recent global disruptions, including isolation and quarantine measures, self-care has received increased profile and attention. Most people realize that it’s a big part of living well. But have you ever thought about what good self-care looks like? If you look beyond rewarding and treating yourself, you can explore a more profound purpose that could be life-changing.

In need of a comfortable, restful night’s sleep? Quality sleep – the kind that makes you look refreshed and feeling energized – is exactly what the doctor ordered.

As we near the summer months, the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic continues – filled with evolving new norms of how we go about our daily lives. We know that self-isolation and physical distancing are necessary, as they are preventative measures to slow the spread of the virus and the risk of infection. As we adopt and implement modifications to our routines, these changes can be linked to psychological effects including feelings of fatigue, isolation, and loneliness.

It is natural to focus on how personal choices affect recovery, but we can't forget that recovery doesn’t only require emotional and mental work. It also requires an assessment of our external environments.

For a person in recovery, it is essential, though not easy, to stay motivated and committed to a better, healthier mindset. Long-term change starts with surrendering to the fact that there is a problem, and acknowledging that change is necessary.

On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The virus did not match any other known virus. This raised concern because when a virus is new, we do not know how it affects people. One week later, on 7 January, Chinese authorities confirmed that they had identified a new virus. On 11 February 2020, the WHO officially named the disease ‘COVID-19’. According to the WHO, a pandemic is declared when a new disease for which people do not have immunity spreads around the world beyond expectations.

The holidays can be hard to manage, even at the best of times with so much going on. There are people to see and places to go, but it’s essential to have a plan that alleviates stress and helps to manage those overwhelming moments, especially when you are still in the recovery process.

We are living in a time where there is convenient and simple access to a constant stream of information generated from all over the world that is literally within reach instantly.

That’s just one of the many indicators that mental health conditions are common within family units.

With the belief that upholding systematic silence about alcohol or drug addiction within the family can do as much damage to a child as the substance use disorder (SUD), we have created this article.

In a review of forty-eight papers from eight longitudinal studies focusing on women's social and emotional health in the first year after birth, postpartum depression (PPD) was found to be a severe condition that potentially affects ten to twenty percent of women worldwide.

Nearly 1/3 of Canadians spend about one hour each day worrying about their finances.

In every type of job, eventually, we will experience significant loss either personal, professional or both, and therefore, grief. The grief may result from death in an individual's family, or it may be the death of a coworker or employer. It may be the loss of employment, either from a single dismissal or a significant restructuring and lay off of workers. Whatever the source, the resulting grief can end up being problematic and disruptive to the ecosystem of the workplace.

Change within your organization can occur in many ways. As our society progresses, so does every organization’s need to better address the changing complexity and composition of its employees.

Anxiety, regardless of a person’s psychological or biological makeup, is highly common. Although it can be triggered by a specific event, such as a trauma or stressful situation, anxiety can also present as a consistent theme in a person’s life, creating challenges in daily activities or interactions.

There are some who believe that addictive personalities are likely to remain addictive, regardless of previous challenges and successes. Is it inevitably true? No, however substitute addictions present key challenges.

Addiction was always understood by scientists as our brains being like large circuit boards that passed information through electrical signals over a network, however recently research has changed our understanding of the brain. Researchers are now looking at how an individual’s everyday living and cumulative life experiences cause changes in our thinking and affect general brain function.

Work-life balance is an individual measurement and may vary daily, monthly, and over extended periods of time. The right balance will differ as your lifestyle changes.

Hear from some Homewood Alumni who have generously agreed to share their insights and key learnings when facing their addictions. We’ll also hear from Dr. Michael Berry, Clinical Director at Homewood Health’s Ravensview treatment facility in Victoria B.C., an expert who guides individuals on the path to recovery and helps people write new chapters focused on their healing and attainment of sustained sobriety.

Of all causes of death, suicide is probably the one that brings about the most heartbreak and the one that is the most difficult to accept. When there is a suicide, family, friends and colleagues fall prey to all sorts of reactions and emotions.

When we feel safe, secure and well connected to our families and people within our communities, we develop a sense of belonging and an understanding of who we are. These attributes allow us to have confidence in our actions and enable us to live our lives in ways that are satisfying and meaningful. In short, we create a baseline for what good mental health feels like.

Being in recovery can sometimes feel like you have been placed into a remote location, amid unfamiliar surroundings, with the added complexity and challenge of finding your way back to civilization. Recovery can be lonely, scary and often confusing, with an array of mental and physical obstacles.

Irrespective of age, culture or income, at least one in five will experience a mental disorder in their lifetime. Given the prevalence of mental health disorders, this article we address common myths and the realities associated with mental health. There is no need to suffer alone and in silence. It’s time to start talking.

PTSD does not discriminate; it can affect anyone regardless of their age, gender, or race. Recent statistics from the Ministry of Veterans Affairs indicate PTSD as the second leading mental health disorder within the Canadian Armed Forces, with incident rates doubling between 2002 and 2013. However, PTSD is not limited to our military and soldiers.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is most often linked to combat occupations and first responders. So you wouldn’t think of your everyday co-workers as prime candidates to encounter PTSD related symptoms.

Whether it was through the encouragement of your family members or your doctor or something you arrived at on your own, making the decision to seek treatment for a mental health and/or addiction disorder was an important step forward on the path to finding recovery that works.

Recognizing strength in the smallest of things. It’s the little changes that you make that show you are well-rooted on the path to sustainable, long-term recovery.

PTSD is brought on by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic, often life-threatening event.

Throughout the year, we are exposed to, and participate in, many campaigns which profile and raise funds for diseases of all types. However, there are noteworthy gaps in regards to illness which do not receive the public spotlight, and which, given their prevalence, don’t get the support they deserve.

Few things have a greater impact on one’s life than their mental health. There is a vast spectrum of possible mental health challenges affecting just as broad a spectrum of people.

With 70% of suicides being completed by working-aged men and women between 30 and 64 years old, the collateral damage of such tragic deaths does indeed reach the workplace.