Lesson 1: Introduction to mental health and well-being in the classroom

Health promotion is understood as, “the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants and thereby improve their health.” (Okanagan Charter, 2015).

The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion emphasizes the interconnectedness between individuals and their environments and recognizes that, “health is created and lived by people within the settings of their everyday life: where they learn, work, play and love.” (Okanagan Charter, 2015).

Mental health exists on a continuum from poor to good or healthy to ill. The Mental Health Continuum Model is a practical tool that can be used to check in on a person’s mental health. Another tool provides a slightly different perspective. 

In good mental health, a person:

• Understands themselves and their abilities
• Copes well with normal stress
• Experiences good feelings from their interactions and relationships with others
• Contributes to their family and/or community (Government of Canada, 2023).

For more information about taking care of your mental health, see the Government of Canada’s web page, About Mental Health.

You may also want to read about the World Health Organization’s description about mental health.  

The First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework (FNMWCF) defines mental wellness as a balance of the “mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional”. This balance is enriched when individuals have purpose in their daily lives whether it is through education, employment, care-giving activities, or cultural ways of being and doing; hope for the future and those of their families that is grounded in a sense of identity, unique Indigenous values, and having a belief in spirit; a sense of belonging and connectedness within their families, to community, and to culture; and finally a sense of meaning and an understanding of how their lives and those of their families and communities are part of creation and a rich history” (Health Canada and Assembly of First Nations, 2023).

A trauma is something that causes physical, emotional, spiritual or psychological harm. Trauma is “a person’s experience during an event so distressing that it overwhelms them emotionally” (Government of Canada, 2023).

Burnout is “an occupational occurrence that an employee experiences because of stress in the workplace, particularly organizational stress (e.g. ongoing conflict with supervisors or colleagues; working large amounts of overtime; having insufficient break time at work; feeling that the employer does not recognize the employee’s effort and contributions)” (Government of Canada, 2023).

“Stress describes the experience a person has while being impacted by one or more stressors. Stress is often characterized by psychological distress and physiological changes (e.g. increased heart rate, shallow breathing, muscle tension). Stress is a common experience and some stress can be beneficial if the stress leads to growth and adaptation; however, stress can also result in psychological trauma” (Government of Canada, 2023).

Resilience can be described as “the ability to adapt well to adversity or change, and to sustain good health and energy when under constant or acute pressure” (Reivich & Shatte, 2002). 

Social scientists have developed conceptions of resilience that see this as a capacity of communities, rather than individuals. According to the social perception of resilience, individuals are only resilient when they are in a resilient web of relations. Resilience can then be seen as both an individual’s and the environment’s capacity to interact in ways that optimize developmental processes (Ungar, 2013). Ungar (2011) defines resilience as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands”.