Mental Health Discussion Starters

MENTAL HEALTH TABLE TALKERS

Initiating discussion aboutmental health and mental illness can be

AWKWARDBUT ... we can’t ignore the facts

FACTS:

1 in 7 young people in BChave a mental illness at any given time

FACTS:about 70% of mental disordersshow up before the age of 18

FACTS:among youth in BC ...7% had made a suicide attempt11% had planned a suicide16% seriously thought about suicide

Suicide is the leading cause of deaths among 15 - 24 year olds

MENTAL HEALTH TABLE TALKERS can help you get the conversation going:

‣ Ask these questions of a friend‣ Ask them introspectively‣ Don’t be afraid to open discussions about

mental health - the stakes are too high!

The connection betweenphysical and mental health is ...

When I feel stress, one positive this I do to alleviate it is ...

I feel healthy when I am ...

A great accomplishment in mylife this past year is ...

To help me focus, I ...

If a friend told me he/she was experiencing depression, my

response would be ...

Today I am thankful for ...

If I had to choose someone I admire, I would choose _______ because ...

I feel I demonstrated resiliency in my life when ...

Someone or Somethingthat makes me laugh is ...

An unhelpful thought that I need to change is ...

Something I love to do that I need to begin doing again is ...

One thing I wish people knewabout me is ...

A small change that has made a significant impact in my life is ...

I find balance in my personalmental health in the following ways ...

An “a-ha” moment that wasimpactful for me was when ...

Foods that tend to affect mymood are ...

A difficult situation that I haveovercome was ...

In my opinion, stigmas associated with mental health and mental illness are ...

The best ways for me to bounce back from failure includes ...

Sources of happiness in my life are ...

To me, forgiveness means ...

If I have the option of showing compassion or passing judgement

I tend to ...

A favorite memory that I have is ...

Visit cmhakelowna.org to order a boxed set of Mental Health Table Talkers for your staff room, desk, near the

water cooler, or wherever discussions happen.