Depression is considered to be a disorder of mood. Individuals who are depressed, describe low mood that has persisted for longer than two weeks. In mild forms of depression, individuals may not feel bad all day but still describe a dismal outlook and a sense of gloom. Their mood may lift with a positive experience, but fall again with even a minor disappointment. In severe depression, a low mood will persist throughout the day, failing to lift even when pleasant things occur. The low mood may fluctuate during the day such that it may be worse in the morning and relatively better in the afternoon. This is called ‘diurnal variation,’ which often accompanies a more severe type of depression.

Also included:
-Information sheets on depression
-Worksheets on depression

A study from the University of Guelph in 2016 found farmers are among the most vulnerable groups when it comes to mental health, reporting higher levels of stress, depression, emotional exhaustion, and burnout than the general population. The same study found that 40 percent of agricultural producers would feel uneasy getting professional help due to the stigma that exists around the issue.

Ready-to-teach lessons to address your changing needs in the classroom.

"Help students take ownership of their digital lives.

Common Sense digital citizenship topics include media balance, cyber-bullying, news and media literacy, online privacy, digital footprint, and communication.
All students need digital citizenship skills to participate fully in their communities and make smart choices online and in life. Our award-winning K–12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum:

Addresses top concerns for schools.
Prepares students with critical 21st-century skills.
Supports educators with training and recognition.
Engages the whole community through family outreach."

Lessons are available in grade groupings for K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.

This video is a short overview of The Do More Ag Foundation. The Do More Ag Foundation focuses on mental health in agriculture across Canada. They recognize the intense pressures that those in the agriculture industry face. They are committed to providing help and resources wherever possible.
https://www.domore.ag/

The Do More Ag Foundation focuses on mental health in agriculture across Canada. They are committed to providing help and resources for those in the agriculture sector. This website is a good resource when discussing mental health support in agriculture.

A program designed to help teens "understand how substance use can get in the way of having the life they want".
This site includes resources for teachers, treatment centres, videos and much more.

A way to help yourself feel more positive and connected.
A way to reach out and support someone you’re worried about.

Safety Planning
Practicing Gratitude
Suicide Prevention Information
Conversation Starters on Suicide
Resources

*available in Google Play & Apple Store

This is an excellent program for teaching young kids emotion identification, regulation, and social relationships.

"Emotional ABCs Classroom is a research-based Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum providing teachers (K–3) with 20 sequential Workshops and extensive classroom support materials for Teacher-led, in-class instruction."

This program teaches:
Self-Awareness
Social Awareness
Self-Management
Responsible Decision-Making
Relationship Skills

"Emotional ABCs Workshops are designed for teacher-led classroom instruction. Your free single user account gives you access to all resources needed to present the Workshops.

All Workshops include a Warm-Up, Mini-Lesson, Activity, Share-Out, and a Self-Reflection, and each can be taught as a 'stand-alone' lesson to target specific skills.

Instructors can teach directly from online Workshops or printable PDFs.

Emotional ABCs Classroom uses a common emotional language throughout the curriculum which can be readily adopted school-wide with minimal teacher training."

Having a family member with a substance use problem can be very stressful and overwhelming. You play a key role in supporting your relative and in promoting their wellness and recovery. Performing this role may take a toll and have a significant impact on you as well. This self-directed online program is designed to empower you as you support your loved one.

This course will help you to recognize the stress and range of emotions you may be experiencing, and to understand the importance of addressing your own needs. The course will also explore strategies you can use to cope with the challenges of dealing with a relative with substance use problems, strategies for self-care and ways to empower yourself.

The course includes 6 modules:
1. Understanding Substance Use Problems and Addiction
2. Impact of Substance Use Problems on Families
3. Supporting Your Family Member's Recovery
4. Communicating Effectively with Your Relative and Setting Limits
5. Staying Safe and Managing Crises
6. Empowering Yourself Through Support and Self-Care

Every one of use gets anxious or worried at some times in our life. This is normal. We are supposed to get worried, because worrying keeps us safe and out of danger. If we were never afraid of falling, we might walk along rooftops. Which would be very dangerous and really bad for our health and safety! We may worry about being in a car accident. So because of this we wear a seat belt to minimize our chances of getting hurt. We still take the risk of being in a car, but we minimize the chances of getting hurt by wearing our seatbelt.
Throughout our day we encounter varying degrees of worry or anxiety. Some of these are understandable and sometimes our worries seem to be unreasonable. Describe specific situations that make you anxious and the level of discomfort it gives you. On a scale of 0 to 10 ( 0 being not at all anxious, and 10 being extremely anxious) rate how much each situation affects you.
After ranking the situations that make you anxious, think about things that you could do to change the ranking to a lower level. Write that down on a separate piece of paper and then DO IT, don’t avoid it.
For Example: If I am feeling overwhelmed by an assignment, I could break the assignment down into smaller sections and then tackle each section one day at a time. This would lower my anxiety level (on the scale) about getting the assignment done. BUT, I would also get the assignment done and not AVOID doing it because it makes me anxious.
It is important to identify the things that make us anxious, but it is even more important to figure out a way that we can reduce our anxiety about something, and then ACTUALLY work on reducing the anxiety.
Attachment includes chart for this.

The Saskatchewan Prevention Institute has a DVD lending library. Titles include: Alcohol and the Brain (15 min); This is Your Brain on Alcohol (17 min); Everything you Need to Know about Alcohol in 22 Minutes (22 min); in the Greenhouse (31 min).

The following is a collection of Happiness Webinars given during school closures on how we can find happiness in these crazy times!

This colouring book represents the collective efforts of 19 Indigenous artists,
and celebrates a diversity of health and wellness perspectives.

Colouring is an activity that can increase mindfulness and decrease stress, and
can help you find balance in challenging times.

"The First Sixteen is Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's new podcast series that explores the freshest ideas in agriculture and food. Each episode explores a single topic in depth—digging deep into new practices, innovative ideas, and their impacts on the industry. Learn about Canada's agricultural sector from the people making the breakthroughs and knocking down the barriers! Farmers and foodies, scientists and leaders, and anyone with an eye on the future of the sector—this podcast is for you! A new episode is published each month." Agri-Food Canada
This link goes specifically to Episode 013- Mental Health: From the Farmer's Perspective

This resource contains two documents from the SK Ministry of Education: Priority Action Plan - contains crucial (foundational) outcomes for literacy and numeracy for Grades 1-9.   Reconnect - provides suggestions and other considerations for reconnecting during the pandemic and disrupted learning. 

Explore and understand the mental health issues that affect young people with these online courses from FutureLearn.

Worry and Rumination

While worrying and feeling nervous is something that all human beings experience, as with many things in life, too much of something may not be good for you. Normal anxiety can become a problem when it is excessive, feels uncontrollable, is experienced as intrusive in your life, is persistent (seeming to always be around), and causes you significant distress, or impairs your ability to go about your day-to-day life. This is when normal anxiety becomes generalised anxiety disorder.
One of the important features of generalised anxiety is that the worry and anxiety is spread across a number of different areas such as health, work, interpersonal relationships, finances, and so on. This makes it different from other anxiety problems, such as social anxiety or phobias, where nervousness and worrying are more specific to particular situations.

**Site includes workbook, worksheets and information sheets for download.

This site is a list of the Community Mental Health and Addictions Services in the province of Saskatchewan organized by Health Region.

It is important to think about all of the things in our life that we can be grateful for. So often we tend to focus on the negative things in our life and forget about all the blessings we have each and every day. Our blessings do not need to be huge to make us appreciate our lives. They can be as small as: a smile from someone, hot chocolate, our pet greeting us at the door, a cozy blanket, a visit from a friend.
Focusing on the good things we have in our life, instead of the challenges we face, can change our perspective to being more positive. When we have a positive outlook on life, life is automatically better!
Some things we can do to help us see the positives in our life are:
- Write in a Gratitude Journal - Take a few minutes each day to write down 4 or 5 good things about your day.
- Write a letter - Think about someone who is important in your life. Write down all of the things that you appreciate about them. Then deliver the letter to that person and enjoy their reaction.
- Visit Someone you Appreciate – Spend some time with someone you like and let them know all the reasons why you like them.
- Use Your Manners – Being polite to others by saying “Thank you,” “Sorry,” “Your welcome” or “That was nice of you” can drastically change how others feel about you, and thus make you feel better about yourself. Being kind to others is as important as being kind to ourselves.
- Take a Gratitude Walk – Go for a walk and make a special effort to appreciate everything you see, hear, smell, taste and touch.

The following is a journal for gratitude. It can be printed off for students to fill out. It includes gratitude, happiness, being grateful, etc.