Communication, involvement key to good mental health: GN

May 4-10 is mental health week, and this year’s focus is on the well-being of men and boys. The campaign is timely given a number of violent armed standoffs including young Inuit men across the North, like a recent standoff in Iqaluit, pictured here. (FILE PHOTO)

Community involvement and connectedness are key to good mental health, say Nunavut health officials.

That’s a message they want Nunavummiut to reflect on during mental health week, which runs May 4 to May 10 across the country.

During the week, the Government of Nunavut’s health department encourages Nunavummiut to reflect on their own health and make an effort to connect with family and friends, the GN said April 28.

This year’s focus is on the mental health and well-being of men and boys.

Following a string of violent and volatile standoffs in Inuit communities across the North, that’s no coincidence.

The Canadian Mental Health Association estimates that more than 3.4 million Canadian men and boys are affected by mental health issues each year.

A standoff shut down a neighbourhood in Nunavut’s capital this past week, when a distraught young man with a firearm barricaded himself inside an Iqaluit house for 42 hours.

Police in Arctic Bay recently arrested a 22-year-old man who barricaded himself inside a residence while armed.

Both of those incidents ended without injury, but many don’t.

Just last week, an Inukjuak man showed up at the Kativik Regional Police Force station in Inukjuak in the middle of the night with a knife and threatened officers in the building.

A KRPF officer fired at the man, who died shortly afterward from his injuries.

In March, another 24-year-old man in Inukjuak shot himself fatally after a three-day long standoff in a residence.

The incidents point to a troubling trend across the North.

Four out of five suicides among young people in Canada are already committed by men; the rate among young Inuit men in Nunavut is 40 times the rate of their peers in Southern Canada.

To prevent the escalation to a crisis due to mental health, the Canadian Mental Health Association suggests men at risk:

• Connect with other people. Find people that you can confide in. Reach out to your wife or partner, siblings, friends or children;

• Get involved. Develop some hobbies and interests separate from your work;

• Exercise. Numerous studies have demonstrated that exercise can combat depression and other forms of mental illness. Exercise affects some of the same chemicals in the brain the way some medications do, so it can really help with depression and anxiety. Keep it simple; go for a walk after dinner;

•Evaluate. Making an effort to evaluate your life along the way can help prevent problems from becoming crises. Are you happy in your job and relationships? Is there anything that you can do to improve the way you live? Take five minutes to sit and think about how you are feeling;

• Consider getting help. Look at therapy as a potential tool to help you maintain your mental health. Contact your family doctor for a referral to a qualified mental health care professional.

“Seeking help is normal and Nunavummiut are encouraged to talk to someone they trust,” said the GN’s health department in an April 28 release. “Speak to a friend, family member or elder.”

Nunavummiut in distress should call the Kamatsiaqtut Help Line 24 hours a day at 1-800-265-3333.