It’s not uncommon to experience feelings of worry and uncertainty about the future. Here are some tips and tools for self-care, keeping in touch, staying safe online and helping friends.
Use these resources to give you some inspiration to stay connected through daily questions and activities with your family!
If you need help,
Kids Help Phone is always there for you. No matter what you want to talk about, they’re there to listen. No judgment, totally private, 24/7.
Self-care and mental health
Stress is a normal response to everyday life, but too much stress, or feeling stressed all of the time, can take a toll on your wellbeing. When you’re away from friends and family, it can also make it harder to do things that usually make us feel better, like hugging a friend or loved one.
There are a lot of tips to help with these feelings, like these tips about
how to manage fears about the future from Kids Help Phone, or the Red Cross Safety Plan in
English and
Inuktitut.
Activities like colouring, singing, dancing, and going out on the land can also be used for healthy self-care ideas. Here are some ideas to get you started:
First Nations Health and Wellness Colouring Book
The
First Nations Health and Wellness Colouring Book is an invitation to slow down. Nineteen Manitoba First Nation artists contributed pieces inspired by their reflections on health and wellness from a First Nation’s perspective.
The colouring book was produced in partnership between the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Canadian Red Cross.
If you are struggling with using drugs or alcohol, hurting yourself, having trouble with your mental health, or worried about a friend, there is support to help:
Staying connected, safely
Social media can help us stay in touch and stay connected to our culture when we need to be apart, like the people
drumming over Facebook Live in Nunavut,
jingle dress dancing videos and
singing for healing during COVID-19.
You can also share kind words and useful information on social media. When you are sharing information online, it’s important to make sure it’s from a source that you can trust. It's easy to share wrong or misleading information during disasters and emergencies.
This useful guide from MediaSmarts is a great tool to learn about how to tell what’s real online.
Sometimes people can be very mean to each other online and it can hurt when people leave negative comments.
Learn about cyberbullying, and some ways to
push back against hate online.
Looking for how to get started? Check out our
tips for supportive communication with your friends and family.
Healthy relationships
Stress can be hard on our relationships. It can cause some situations to get worse or may cause unexpected changes that pose new problems. Regardless of how stress affects your relationships, it doesn’t change the fact that everyone still deserve to be safe and happy.
Here are
some tips if you are experiencing abuse, bullying, harassment online, or violence in a relationship.
Feeling a little unsure if a friendship is healthy or not?
This quiz from Kids Help Phone can help.
Tips for parents and caregivers
Parents and caregivers can help youth who are experiencing stress and uncertainty during difficult times. Here are some resources:
Contact
Email
mb.riskreduction@redcross.ca for more information about programs and partnerships.