MCC Thrift Store Supports Local Organizations

Please take a moment to read this amazing story from the Eden Foundation.

MCC Thrift Store board chair Gord Kornelson, presented five charitable agencies with cheques. Each of the agencies received a portion of funds available from the proceeds of sales at the Steinbach MCC Thrift Store. Mr. Kornelson pointed out that not only does MCC support efforts overseas but also supports efforts locally.

Recipients of that generosity were South-east Helping Hands, Soup’s On, Anna’s House, Today House and our own Debra Stockwell on behalf of Segue Career Options and Eden Foundation. Ms. Stockwell was most pleased not only to receive support from neighbours across the street from MCC but equally as important has been the fact that the Segue Career Options program was recognized by MCC Steinbach as a service of significance to the community of Steinbach along with other local helping organizations.

On hand to receive cheques were Hank Klassen representing South-east Helping Hands, Joy Barkman representing Soup’s On, Vicki Olatundun representing Anna’s House, Simone Penner representing Today House and Debra Stockwell representing Segue Career Options.

Beating The Bullys

One in 12 youngsters are bullied so badly that it affects their education, relationships and even their job prospects in later life.

And in 10 to 15 cases every year the bullying reaches such a dreadful level that it drives its young victims to suicide. (Daily Mirror's Beat the Bullies campaign) 

Here are 3 ways you can teach your children to beat off bullies.

1. Find out your school's anti-bullying policy and make sure your child knows it's okay to talk to a teacher. As soon as you encounter behaviour which is not acceptable to you let them know to talk to someone.

2. A bully thrives off the fact that you are too scared to confront them. Teach your child to ignore negative comments and the power of the word "No!" It is difficult to pick on someone who won't stand still to listen to threats.

3. Be Cautious. Change your route to school, avoid certain parts of the playground. Safety is the most important thing.

Don't ever let your child feel like a victim. If you have been bullied for a long time, you might start to believe what the bully says. Sit down with your child and have them make a list of all the good things they can think of about themselves. 

Lace Up: Why We Run.

Though one of the top priorities of our walk/run is to fundraise for Eden Mental Health, another important goal is to help fight the stigma often associated with mental illness.

The stigma associated with mental health prompts many people to avoid working, and socializing with people who have a mental disorder. To move forward as a community, improve care and encourage knowledge the stigma must be stopped. 

Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, Depression, and  Anxiety are conditions that some people deal with on a daily basis. It is these same people that most would not recognize in a crowd full of the mentally stable.  These people are mothers, sisters, athletes, businessmen, doctors, and husbands living lives full of much more than just their mental disorder.


To get ourselves ready for this Saturday's Imagine run we wanted to bring you back to why we do what we do. You are the most powerful proof of the belief in our cause.

We want to prove that mental illness is just as worthy of attention as heart disease and cancer. Knowledge is  half the battle when fighting stigma. Eden Mental Health provides resources to better educate people on the presence and definition of mental illness, along with ways to eliminate the stigmas often associated with it. 

Whether you're a runner or a walker, lace up this weekend and show that you are not ashamed to say that you care for your own mental health. 


More on Eden Mental Health Centre's services:

• Psychiatric assessment and treatment for persons dealing with acute mental health issues.
• In-patient treatment for persons requiring hospitalization.
• Out-patient psychiatric services

Eden's psychiatric specialists team provides recovery based treatment utilizing best practices.

Workplace Bullies

In most cases, the purpose of bullying is to hide inadequacy and to reduce fear of being seen as “weak.” The unwelcome behavior of a bully isn’t something that is restricted to the playground. The truth is, Bullies come in all shapes, sizes, ages, genders and races. Understanding how and why bullies bully is key to effective action. Whether you are a victim or you can see bullying going on around you it’s important to be able to identify it.

“Bullying is obsessive and compulsive; the serial bully has to have someone to bully and appears to be unable to survive without a current target.” –bullyonline.org

BullyOnline.org has given the following names to workplace bullies…

Pressure bullying - where the stress of the moment causes behavior to deteriorate; the person becomes short-tempered, irritable and may shout or swear at others.

Corporate bullying - where the employer abuses employees with impunity knowing that the law is weak and jobs are scarce. This type does things like…

•    Introduces "absence management" to deny employees annual or sick leave to which they are genuinely entitled

•    Regularly snoops and spies on employees. For example, by listening in on telephone conversations, using the mystery shopper, contacting customers behind employees backs and asking leading questions, conducting covert video, calling/messaging employee's home to interrogate the employees whilst on sick leave, or threatening employees with interrogation the moment they return from sick leave, etc.

•    Deems any employee suffering from stress as weak and inadequate whilst aggressively ignoring and denying the cause of stress (bad management and bullying)

•    "Encourages" employees to fabricate complaints about their colleagues

Client bullying - where employees are bullied by those they serve. For example: teachers by pupils and their parents, nurses by patients and their relatives, social workers by their clients, and office societies by customers. Often the client is claiming their perceived right in an abusive, derogatory and violent manner.

In environments where bullying is the norm, most people will either become bullies or become targets. What will you do? Stand up against bullying. Recognize the signs and talk to someone in your HR department.

Cultivate mindfulness to fight stress

Stress Management:

The concept of mindfulness is becoming increasingly popular as a tool to help us deal with the bewildering stresses of modern day life. Although there are many definitions of this term, it's useful to think of mindfulness as total absorption in the task at hand.

Need more help?

If the stress in your life is more than you can cope with, get help right away. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Go to the nearest hospital or emergency room Call your physician, health provider or clergy National Alliance on Mental Illness www.nami.org 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)

In reading about an Olympic athlete, I came across a similar concept — "bookends." The athlete pictures a competition or big event between bookends. Everything else is outside of the bookends and is ignored so that the athlete can focus on what's important.

It can be challenging to eliminate those thorny, nagging issues that drive us to distraction. But one way of putting this into practice is to simply unplug from the grid for a period of time. Power down the phone, the tablet, the desktop and the laptop.

The sun will come up in the morning and the world will not disintegrate. At least this gives us a break from the barrage of demands and expectations. We need time to recharge our battery. We need time alone, or we simply will not go the distance.

Source:

By Edward T. Creagan, M.D. Mayo Clinic Oncologist

Exercise & Depression

Time and time again we hear about the importance of regular exercise for our bodies. But not only does such exercise help our bodies — it does wonders for our minds as well. The latest finding comes from two researchers who found that simple exercise can be helpful with some people’s depressive mood:

The researchers based their finding on an analysis of dozens of population-based studies, clinical studies and meta-analytic reviews related to exercise and mental health, including the authors’ meta-analysis of exercise interventions for mental health and studies on reducing anxiety sensitivity with exercise.

The researchers’ review demonstrated the efficacy of exercise programs in reducing depression and anxiety.

And this is good news, since not everyone can afford psychotherapy or medications, and most people who have depression never seek out treatment for it anyways. If they do, it’s most often through their primary care physician, and they are most often just prescribed an antidepressant and then call it a day.

Exercise is easy and free. Take a walk around your neighborhood every day. Ride a bike. Jog around the park or around the town. Do a few dozen push-ups and/or sit-ups in your apartment. You can’t beat it for the convenience factor, the price, and the ease of actual doing factor.

Research shows it works — something about exercise seems to help us out of the depressive mood that infiltrates our brains. Exercise appears to affect, like an antidepressant, particular neurotransmitter systems in the brain, and it helps patients with depression re-establish positive behaviors. For patients with anxiety disorders, exercise reduces their fears of fear and related bodily sensations such as a racing heart and rapid breathing.

Something to think about next time you forgo the walk outside, the playing ball with your friends or children, or don’t feel like getting off the couch. Our minds and bodies — they are the same and work together in conjunction with one another.

Source: Psych Central