Mental Health

Disclaimer: The content on this website is intended to educate and inform families about common mental health topics. It is not meant to replace the advice, diagnosis, or treatment of a healthcare professional. If you have questions or concerns about your child's mental health, please get in touch with your family doctor or a mental health provider. Additional resources can be found at the bottom of this page.

Table Of Contents

What is Mental Health?

Talking About Anxiety and Depression

Anxiety

Depression

Facts About Calgarians Mental Health

The Summit: Marian & Jim Sinneave Centere for Youth Resilience

What is Mental Health?

Mental health describes the state of your mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. It is related to your ability to meet daily responsibilities and handle challenges as they come. Just like physical health, everyone has some state of mental health, and this state changes throughout life. Friends, experiences, gender, age, race, physical health and more can all impact your mental health.

Mental health, mental health concerns, and mental disorders are not the same thing. Having a mental health concern or a mental disorder can influence your mental health state, but not always. We know what mental health is, so now let's define the other two terms.

A mental health concern describes a time when people feel emotional or psychological distress. This could be feelings of worry or sadness, etc.

Periods of low mental health could be because of a bad grade, losing a sports game, or having a friendship fire. In these situations, people can feel anxiety or depression. However, that does not mean they have an anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder. This is because mental health concerns are often temporary, and these feelings will typically pass with time. Everyone will experience periods of low mental health throughout their life.

A mental disorder is a diagnosed medical condition that greatly impacts a person's ability to function in their daily life.

Mental disorders can affect a person's ability to have relationships, attend school or work, and take care of themselves. There are many types of mental disorders, including major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, and eating disorders. These disorders can be linked to changes in the brain, life experiences, and familial histories.

So, now we can see that mental health, mental health concerns, and mental disorders are similar but not the same.

To put all this information together in an example, press the arrow to the right.

Ellie is a 13-year-old girl....

Last year, she had a period of low mental health after someone she loved passed away. She felt depressed, angry, and worried, but was told she was grieving. Grief is a natural response to loss, and everyone will experience this feeling.
She has also been diagnosed with a mental disorder, specifically generalized anxiety disorder. This is a common disorder in young girls. At one time, Ellie felt so anxious that she couldn't attend school.
However, Ellie started therapy and leans on her family for support. By taking important actions to manage her anxiety, she usually has very good mental health. Remember, your mental health state is dependent on many things and changes throughout life.

Mental health is just as important as physical health, and to live a happy and healthy life, we have to take care of it. The same way you might eat healthy food and move your body to keep good physical health, you can take intentional actions to care for your mental health. Some of the ways you can take care of your mental health are by:

Getting good sleep

Being outside in nature

Doing things you love

Spending time with friends and family

Talking About Anxiety and Depression

Anxiety

Depression

Facts About Calgarians Mental Health

All of the facts below have been sourced from The City of Calgary: Mental Health of Calgarians Report (July 2025). You can access the link to read even more about Calgarians mental health!

53% of Calgarians report feeling that they needed mental health care at some point in their life.

81% of Calgarians used positive concepts when they were asked to define mental health.

79% of Calgarians believe that people's emotional problems are unlikely to be solved alone.

63% of Calgarians know someone who has searched for mental health care in 2025.

If You Need Help

If you are experiencing an emergency, call 911 or visit the nearest emergency room.

Mental disorders and mental health concerns are treatable, and there is help available for those who want it. If you are seeking mental health support, please view the resources below: