Youth & Family Mental Health

In “Families Safe at Home”: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Parenting in Canada”, approximately 4 in 10 youth aged 12–17 reported “a lot” or “some” negative impact on their physical health. Wherever you, your youth, and your family are - however you are feeling today, here are links to some mental health articles and resources that will help you find peace of mind for a minute, or for a few evenings.

“Families Safe at Home”: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Parenting in Canada” from the United Nations

“What Happened to American Childhood?” from Kate Julien, Senior Editor at The Atlantic. She writes meaningfully about “too many kids show worrying signs of fragility from a very young age. Here’s what we can do about it.”

“Family mental health crisis: Parental depression, anxiety during COVID-19 will affect kids too” from at The Conversation Canada. Writers Leslie E. Roos, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba and Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary provide a more local perspective.

If you would rather look for ideas of what to do, you can start with the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 and Mental Health page with resources for children (link).

In Calgary, you can take it another step further with programs and courses from Catholic Family Services.

“At CFS, we are all about empowering moms and dads to develop the skills and confidence they need to be great parents." Parenting isn’t easy. It’s unpaid, requires a lot of time, and you can be underappreciated a long time before your work pays off. Catholic Family Services aims to help you survive the worst, give your best, to help bring up the next generation.”

This past year hasn’t been easy and we love to share organization’s like these that can help make our lives, and our family’s lives, easier, both mentally and emotionally.