Reconnecting with their roots has proven to be most transformative for Indigenous youth struggling with mental health - so what would land-based mental health and addictions treatment look like?

Mental-health systems often try to treat patients with the same techniques. However, not all strategies work for everyone. This is where we find land-based treatment, an Indigenous approach to mental health, unlike what is generally prescribed to people in need. Land-based treatment, stemming from traditional knowledge, focuses on the power of nature to heal and re-centre an individual.

How does it work? What can Indigenous concepts of wellness teach us about healing? What does success mean for youth coming out the other side of mental-health challenges? And why would some communities benefit from something different than the Western approach to mental-health treatment?

In the final episode of “In Our Heads,” host Tiffany Lam reports on how cultural competence in mental-health care can affect health outcomes. The episode features a graduate from Gwekwaadziwin Miikan on Manitoulin Island, a publicly funded, land-based mental health and addiction program for young adults between the ages of 19 and 29.

Read the transcript here: https://www.tvo.org/article/how-to-heal-with-the-land

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If you, or someone you know, is struggling with mental health, visit any of the following resources for support:

Wellness Together Canada

https://www.wellnesstogether.ca/en-CA

To connect with a mental health professional one-on-one:

• call 1-888-668-6810 or text WELLNESS to 686868 for youth
• call 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741 for adults

Kids Help Phone

Call 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868.

The Government of Ontario’s Mental Health Support Resources

https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-mental-health-support

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Stay up to date with what’s happening in Ontario: https://www.tvo.org/

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Online therapy apps have become a popular solution to mental-health care, but can they replace the traditional visit to a therapist's office?

At the height of the pandemic, the Government of Ontario thought that an app for therapy could be solution to help people struggling through the mental-health crisis - but were they too quick to inject $1-million a month into MindBeacon? Two years later, tens of thousands of users were left without access to online counselling as the government pulled the majority of its financial support from the program.

Why did the government invest so much money in the program only to take it away? What does it mean if young people lean on their phones to feel better? How can youth know where to turn for trusted sources on mental- health advice when there is so much competing online content promising to empower consumers? (Read: therapy TikTok and mental-health Instagram)

How do we navigate the world of online mental health?

Host Tiffany Lam reports on online mental health for youth, including why the province spent so much money on an app that ended up being defunded two years later, the changes one researcher proposes to strengthen online solutions for digital health care, and speaks with one therapist about how her content on TikTok is just as important as other digital solutions.

Read the transcript here: https://www.tvo.org/article/what-happens-when-your-therapist-is-an-app

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If you, or someone you know, is struggling with mental health, visit any of the following resources for support:

Wellness Together Canada

https://www.wellnesstogether.ca/en-CA

To connect with a mental health professional one-on-one:

• call 1-888-668-6810 or text WELLNESS to 686868 for youth
• call 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741 for adults

Kids Help Phone

Call 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868.

The Government of Ontario’s Mental Health Support Resources

https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-mental-health-support

--

Donate to TVO: http://tvo.org/give

Stay up to date with what’s happening in Ontario: https://www.tvo.org/

Listen to other TVO podcasts: https://www.tvo.org/podcasts

Follow TVO on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetvo/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tvo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TVO

Subscribe to TVO Media Education Group newsletters: https://www.tvo.org/newsletters

Get the TVO Today app:

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/tvo-today/id1616182112

Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.tvo.tvomediaapp&p

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Youth antidepressant prescriptions have skyrocketed and it's revealing some important issues about the mental-health-care system in Ontario.

Max's family has questions about the risks of these antidepressants for young people. Max was 19 years old when he first received a prescription for his mental health. A month later, Max ended his life. Now, his family wants to know more about the threshold to be prescribed an antidepressant.   

In Ontario's mental-health crisis, the number of young people prescribed antidepressants jumped by 224 per cent between 2009 and 2019. Host Tiffany Lam digs into the use of prescription medication in mental-health care for youth struggling with anxiety, depression, and other mental-health issues, and where the trend is now.

What should families look out for if a loved one starts this kind of treatment? What do latest trends signal more broadly? What happens when we rely too much on medications to treat youth-mental-health problems? What are the side effects? How will pharmaceutical solutions to mental-health challenges change in the future?

This episode of In Our Heads explores studies of psychiatric medications, how the brain reacts to them and the future of pharmaceutical mental-health treatment.

Read the transcript: https://www.tvo.org/article/how-and-when-should-teens-be-prescribed-antidepressants

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If you, or someone you know, is struggling with mental health, visit any of the following resources for support:

Wellness Together Canada

https://www.wellnesstogether.ca/en-CA

To connect with a mental health professional one-on-one:

• call 1-888-668-6810 or text WELLNESS to 686868 for youth
• call 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741 for adults

Kids Help Phone

Call 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868.

The Government of Ontario’s Mental Health Support Resources

https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-mental-health-support

--

Donate to TVO: http://tvo.org/give

Stay up to date with what’s happening in Ontario: https://www.tvo.org/

Listen to other TVO podcasts: https://www.tvo.org/podcasts

Follow TVO on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetvo/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tvo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TVO

Subscribe to TVO Media Education Group newsletters: https://www.tvo.org/newsletters

Get the TVO Today app:

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/tvo-today/id1616182112

Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.tvo.tvomediaapp&pli=1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.