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Mental Health a balance of By Hadley Koltun Mental Health and You is provided as a service of the North of Superior Community Mental Health Program. The purpose of these articles is to in- form the community about mental health issues. These articles will appear once every two weeks and will cover a variety of mental health issues. : We invite feedback by the communi- ty at large by writing the News office. Any opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the management of the North of Superior Community Mental Health Program. What is Mental Health? Mental Health may have a variety of meanings. It implies a general sound- ness of the mind which includes think- ing, feeling and behaviour. If an individual adopts and adjusts to changes and problems within himself, others and the community, he is said to be mentally healthy. : Everyone faces problems and crisis; it is how we deal with these problems that determines mental health. Mental health professionals (eg. psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, etc.) have discovered two principles that are important in understanding mental health. The first is the major question of psychology itself; the body and mind principle. In-centuries past, it was believed that. the body or our physical functions (eg. breathing, circulation, digestion, etc.) were independent from our mind (thinking, feeling and behaviour). With many of the discoveries of modern science, many mental health professionals have come to recognize an interaction between the body and the mind. For instance, when we feel anxious and worried for long periods of time (stress), hydrochloric acid, which eats away at * the walll of the stomach. This may cause an ulcer. Converse- ly, when we are sick with the flu, we cannot help but feel miserable. Therefore, of our bodies or physical functions are well, then our mind or mental functions ate well and vice versa. The second principle that mental health professionals have come to realize is the inter-relationship between thinking and feeling. For instance, when one is angry, it is not a good idea to drive a car or operate a complex machine because the anger may interfere with one's ability to clearly think on the road. This may cause an accident. Thus, thinking and feeling are inter-related. These two principles seem to be the cornerstone of sound mental health. Just like physical fitness can be improv- ed, mental health can be improved by good habits, environment and relationships. To feel 'good', it is important to be in good physical and mental health. our stomach secretes - Second, our attitudes about ourselves, others and the environment influence the way that we feel as well. We have all heard the statement, "*You've got a bad attitude" when we are angry with our friends, co-workers or family. What causes mental illness Earlier, we explored the body-mind relationship and thinking-feeling rela- tionship as the force behind mental health. Although it is difficult to pinpoint a cause for mental illness, these two rela- tionships are pivital. Let's look at them closer. We can find three major factors; physical causes, heredity and evironment. 1. Physical causes: Physical causes are related to some kinds of mental illness. Body chemistry may play a part. Some physical illness (sleeping sickness, syphillis, injury to brain tissue) can cause changes in behaviour like symptoms of mental illness. 2. Heredity: ' Heredity can be a factor. If we can inherit our eye color, build, etc., then it is likely that we can inherit some pat- terns or traits of behaviour. However, the relationships between heredity and environment in causing mental illness is not yet clear. 3. Environment: Our environment is the world around Bits and Bites | By Helene Ballard Hi. I do hope all is well with our readers. Seems the new year is going by, somehow the days go by. I think we have been blessed with mild weather for the holidays- as a rule it gets pretty cold at this time of the year. I only hope we don't pay for it in April. Things have been rather quiet here at Birchwood since the holidays. I guess it's just as well, it gives us time to 'recharge our batteries' before Easter. We all agree here that it was a very nice Christmas and we thank all those who worked hard to make us happy. Just now the craft room is busy mak- ing flowers for weddings. We can almost make them in our sleep, but it keeps us busy. We welcomed three new residents over the holidays. Miss Rita Gaffney from Longlac, Mr. James Singleton from Hurkett, and Mr. Andrew Desmoulin from Heron Bay. We hope they will be happy living here at Birchwood. Our bridge-playing friends from Schreiber have started up their regular Tuesday card games, so if some of you nice people out there would like to spend a winter afternoon just come over from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Our residents look forward to these weekly games. For now, news is scarce so I'll end this chatter with this wee bit of 'fun'. "'Do you know you can't play the National Anthem on the violin? It's against the law because they don't want any fiddling around with O Canada." Until next week, Cheerio. N Robinsons Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, January 14, 1987, page 9 us. Experiences with people in the family, at school or on the job create situations which cause tension. Our behaviour is changed or modified when we come in contact with others; we learn how to get along with others. We also need a positive self-esteem; a feeling of self-importance and self- worth. The way people think of themselves is the way that others will think of them. POULIOT. HEE HEE HEE HEE IEE HEEIE™ HEE IE" IE mind and body By understanding these relationships between body-mind and _thinking- feeling and the various factors that in- fluence mental health, we can unders- tand mental illness and provide support for those who suffer from mental illness. Remember, a caring community is a powerful and effective medicine. You can contact the Community Mental Health Worker in Terrace Bay at 825-3238 or in Schreiber at 824-2597. DIEM IIE INIT IE HE HEIN INVITATION You are invited to attend the LAKE NIPIGON N.D.P. ANNUAL MEETING & NOMINATION CONVENTION, to be held on SUNDAY FEBRUARY 15, 1987 AT 1:30 p.m. IN ELKS HALL, NIPIGON BOB RAE, leader of the Ontario New Democratic ¥ Party will be the guest speaker for this important event. The RIDING EXECUTIVE OFFICERS *¥ will be elected during the meeting. Come and meet BOB RAE and your PROVIN- * CIAL MEMBER of PARLIAMENT- GILLES ¥ Membership forms will be available at the door. SEE YOU ON THE 15th of FEBRUARY 1987. * Bae NESTE E IESE aclgeste at The Valhalla Inn THUNDER BAY e Perfect TM heekend Get Away 59" *Per room, per night, no extra charge for children under 18 in the same room. 1 VALHALLA INN ROAD, THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO CALL (807) 577-1121, TELEX 073-4524, CALL TOLL-FREE IN CANADA (800) 268-2500 WINTER SAVER ®t" | pare Expires April 30, 1987 cor msWAlhalla Inn Guest $10.00 VALID ONLY IN THUNDER BAY anounr LEN and no/100 Present at Check-in for $0 off per room Limit one cheque per robm per stay Subject to availability. WEEKENDS ONLY The Valhalla Inn May not be used in conjunction with special rates. group tates or vouchers.