Every day you should make your mental health a priority. During the month of May, National Mental Health Awareness Month, this is a great time to take inventory of your mental health and look to establish positive habit-forming strategies.
When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, many of us vow to make a New Year’s resolution for our physical health. Think of this month as Dec. 31 and make some healthy changes for your mind. Soon, you may recognize taking care of your mental health also helps your physical health.
How can one get started? Similar to making your new year’s resolution, pick a date on the calendar in May. From that date forward, implement a new coping skill or strategy each day. Like any resolution or change, it will take 21 days to form a habit.
Here are a few suggestions you can implement to help your mental health toolbox:
- Try applying yoga or mediation into your daily routine.
- Yoga is a practice that connects the body, breath and mind. It uses physical posture, breathing exercises and meditation to improve overall health.
- Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your well-being and your overall health.
- The weather is getting nicer outside. Start with a short walk and gradually increase the distance over time. Many areas have built trails connecting different townships and their park systems.
- Drink plenty of water – drinking water can prevent dehydration, a condition that can cause unclear thinking, result in mood change, cause your body to overheat and lead to constipation and kidney stones.
- Eating healthy – the benefits of eating healthy snacks in between meals may provide a boost of energy if several hours pass between meals and blood glucose level drops. Good healthy snacks include nutrients when choosing certain snacks like fresh fruit or nuts.
- Plenty of rest – being well rested will lower your risk for serious health problems, like diabetes and heart disease. Being well rested will reduce stress and improve your mood.
- Listen to music or your favorite playlist.
- Have a trusted person to speak with to help you navigate through challenging situations.
- Plan to start gardening. Gardening may help lighten your mood and lower levels of stress and anxiety. It may be gratifying to plant, tend and harvest and share your own food. A gardening routine, such as watering and weeding, can create a soothing rhythm to ease stress.
Many of the suggestions listed above are individual tips to improve your personal toolbox to help your coping skills. Here are a few tips to help you in larger settings to boost your mental health.
- Plan a time to do an activity with your immediate or extended family without phones and social media.
- Plan a friend’s evening out or schedule time with one or more couples for a group outing.
Other fun activities to do are puzzles, crossword puzzles, journaling, drawing, painting or any activity you enjoy.
Today, mental health appears to be a buzzword or popular phrase, but the reality is everyone’s mental health is on display every day. And throughout the course of a day, there are many challenges that can affect your mental health. Be kind to yourself and kind to others. Remember, you can take a pause during the day to collect your thoughts!
In the Mission Advancement department at C&A, we are starting to implement wellness stations for when we need a “pause.” Stations included are an area to do a puzzle and a gratitude station. As this initiative moves further along, more wellness areas will be created for team members to pause, collect their thoughts and then move back to the task at hand.
During this month, take inventory of what you can do to restock your shelves and implement new mental health and coping strategies to be your best both physically and mentally!
Dan Mucci is the author of this blog post. Mucci, C&A’s Mission Advancement Director, has more than 20 years of writing experience. To learn more about the services the agency offers, visit www.childandadolescent.org , call 330.433.6075 or email dmucci@childandadolescent.org.
RECENT POSTS
Every human life has equal worth.
CANTON, Ohio (Jan 16) – Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health (C&A) announced today a strategic affiliation with Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio, Inc. (Goodwill). The affiliation reflects a shared commitment to strengthening community-based services and ensuring long-term stability for children, adolescents, and families across Stark County. This affiliation brings together two mission-driven nonprofit organizations that serve many of the same individuals and families. C&A’s clinical expertise in youth behavioral health will be supported by Goodwill’s established administrative and operational infrastructure, allowing both organizations to advance their missions while remaining focused on the communities they serve. “Youth mental health needs continue to grow across our community,” said Melissa Coultas, Chief Executive Officer of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health. “This affiliation allows us to strengthen our operational foundation while preserving who we are. Our mission, our services, and our commitment to Stark County remain unchanged, and this partnership allows us to reinvest resources into care and into our staff.” As part of the affiliation, C&A will maintain its designated 501c3 status and operate as an affiliate program of Goodwill. C&A’s name, mission, programs and local leadership remain in place. Clinical services will continue without disruption. Select administrative functions will transition to a shared services model supported by Goodwill. “At Goodwill, our mission is to strengthen communities by helping people overcome barriers,” said Anne Richards, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio. “This affiliation reflects Goodwill’s commitment to supporting vital local programs and ensuring C&A can continue delivering trusted, lifechanging mental health services to Stark County families for years to come.” C&A will retain its own Board of Directors and leadership team. Goodwill will serve as the corporate member and provide shared administrative services in areas such as human resources, information technology, and financial operations. “This was a thoughtful, mission-centered decision by the Board,” said Casey McCloud, Board President of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health. “It strengthens C&A’s longterm sustainability while preserving local oversight and ensuring continued access to critical services for children and families.”
It seems to be happening all the time – school shootings, violent attacks at public events, celebrities and public figures being attacked or even killed. When things like this happen, it usually shows up on the television and the internet, people post about it on social media, and people talk about it with others around them. Children and adolescents find out, and they may come to you wanting to talk or to ask you questions. How should you handle it? These are difficult but important conversations to have. Here are some tips for talking with children and teens about violent events.
For 50 years, we have stood shoulder to shoulder with Stark County’s children and families, helping them grow, heal and thrive through every challenge. Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health (C&A) is a leading nonprofit here in Stark County, but many are unaware of the significant number of lives we touch every day. We are working to change that and find people in the community ready to help us build the next 50 years of hope for Stark County youth. We serve more than 4,000 kids each year by providing mental health services: a person to talk to, a mentor to help them grow, a place where kids with trauma can go to school and a place to hear a voice of reason where no one is turned away because of income.
CANTON, Ohio (May 19) – Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health (C&A) has been awarded more than $217,000 in new grant funding from six community-focused foundations and agencies to enhance service delivery, support families, and improve internal operations across Stark County. The grants—awarded by the Health Foundation of Greater Massillon, Massillon Rotary Foundation, North Canton Medical Foundation, United Way of Greater Stark County, the SummerTime Kids program, and the Roy H. Powell and Nina B. Powell Family Charitable Fund—reflect continued community investment in C&A’s mission and momentum. “These contributions help us strengthen the systems that support the mental health of our community’s youth,” said Melissa Coultas, CEO of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health. “They ensure our team is equipped, our services remain accessible, and our families feel supported.”
For many people changes in the seasons also bring changes in mood, energy, sleep, weight and appetite. Some researchers have found that as many as 90% of people report noticing these types of changes in themselves. However, for some people, the changes are so intense that they interfere with the person’s ability to function in their daily life. Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is a type of clinical depression that occurs with a consistent seasonal pattern. The symptoms of SAD are the same as those for other depressive disorders; what is different is that the symptoms begin every year around the same time, last for several months, and then go away for the rest of the year. The most common form of SAD is what is known as winter-pattern SAD in which depressive symptoms start in the fall or early winter and end in the spring. Another less common form is known as summer-pattern SAD and is associated with depressive symptoms that occur during the spring and summer months and improve in the fall.
The 2024 election has brought a lot of fear and stress into the lives of people throughout the country. A recent survey by the American Psychological Association found that 77% of adults in the US are worried about the future of the nation, 73% reported feeling stressed out about the economy and 69% reported feeling stressed about the presidential election. When adults are feeling this high of a level of stress, you can bet that children and adolescents are feeling it too.
Are you a trusted adult to your child or someone’s child in your life? What are the characteristics of a trusted adult? Trusted adults are viewed by children or adolescents as a safe figure that listens without judgment, agenda or expectation, but with the sole purpose of supporting and encouraging positivity within a young person’s life. Today’s youth identify a trusted adult as someone who is willing to listen and engage, rather than lecture and give orders. Young adults are interested in having open conversations about mental health, social media, bullying and sharing their own experiences.
Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health’s (C&A) The Canton Repository Let Your Light Shine presented by the Massillon Eagles FOE #190 is Sept. 21 at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Canton, from 6-9 p.m. The 19th annual event supports the youth mental health programs and services C&A provides each year to our 4,100 clients.
