By: Canadian Mental Health Association Ontario Staff People use different descriptive terms for mental illness, including mental health problems, mental health disorders and psychiatric disorders. Generally, mental health problems encompass all aspects of mental health difficulties, including those that do not meet the criteria for a specific mental illness diagnosis. Some of these difficulties might be described as mental or emotional distress. At some point in their life, everyone is likely to experience mental distress over life’s ups and downs. A lost job, a failed relationship, a really bad day full of mishaps – the stresses and disappointments of everyday life are things everyone faces. Generally, we can cope with the resulting distress by working it out ourselves or sharing the experience with a friend, a family member or even a counsellor. Being distressed, anxious, sad or stressed does not necessarily mean you have a mental illness. Mental illnesses and mental disorders ha...

By Lena Kushnir “The only regret I have is that I didn’t do it sooner” said Marsha, a one-time skeptic and naysayer about mindfulness practices. Her story is a prime example of how you can transform your life – in as little as ten minutes a day. Before Marsha began her mindfulness practices, her health was in jeopardy. Her cholesterol was 260, her blood pressure was 160/90 and her sugar levels indicated that she was pre-diabetic. She couldn’t sleep at night because her mind would, “go in 20 million places.” After a few months of 10 minutes of daily mindfulness practice before bed, Marsha lost 50 pounds and lowered all of her numbers – her blood pressure went down to 117/70, her cholesterol went down to 133 and her blood sugar moved into the normal range at 92. In discussing her transformation, Marsha noted, “I feel amazing! Not a lot has changed in terms of the things that are stressors – it’s just the way I look at it. The weight loss has been critical for Marsha, and ...