In this section:
On this page:
Hear Me
If you started off preventing when children [were] still children - because a lot of people, you talk to them now that they
are depressed. If they really think hard, a lot of the depression may root from their childhood.
Particularly through grades 6 and 9 there have to be classes for young women, to educate them on exactly what they are going
through and that it is normal - that they are normal. They don't have to be these norms, these perfections that are portrayed
in our society.
Support is prevention. . . .
You want to do stuff to involve everyone - family and friends - not just the person who's having the problem.
I think in schools also, . . . there should be more of a combination - either support or fun. A school needs to be a place
where people can go and enjoy themselves and feel open enough to share and to help each other. There's not enough of either
one - having a balance of both support groups and fun groups to help people would help.
[Put] a support system into schools, because there really isn't one other than your counsellors, who do so many other things
. . . they can't even counsel you, really.
I don't think it's as much what can they necessarily do in the schools, it's what they need to change; and what they need
to change are the teachers. We had a racist teacher in the school, making fun of black girls' hair, etc., . . . I'm not surprised
we have so many depressed young women. It's hard for a teacher to get reprimanded - even the vice principal's hands were tied.
No one spoke out. Teachers thought they could say anything at all.
There should be the option of a multicultural group and, I guess, diverse groups, if that's what somebody wants. If there
are people that feel more confident or more comfortable around someone who would understand their culture or where they're
coming from with their families - 'cause there are newer families who immigrate and they have different issues that would
bring on depression that maybe someone who was born and raised in Canada wouldn't necessarily understand.
I think support is the most important thing. Just supporting everyone for who they are and letting them know it's okay to
be yourself. To be different.
Understand Me
In the health, social services and education fields, prevention usually refers to initiatives or programs designed to stop
a problem occurring. In the mental health and substance use fields, workers also refer to prevention as a way to stop a relapse
or recurrence of a mental health or substance use problem.
When the young women of VALIDITY spoke about preventing depression, they repeatedly referred to support - connecting with
each other and with caring adults in a relaxed atmosphere. They suggested that young women receive this support (and in fact,
they often stated that all young people should receive it) regardless of whether a mental health problem was involved. Support
should be seen as a baseline - as the foundation for mitigating situations and challenges that might contribute to depression.
This information provided the impetus, as well as specific ideas, for the design and content of a program called Girls Talk,
a facilitated group for young women that incorporates topics of interest to them with information about building self-esteem.
Evaluation of the program, still in the pilot-testing phase, has shown positive results. See Girls Talk for details about the program.
During research for the VALIDITY initiative - including interviews, focus groups and a conference - the young women also connected
their ideas about prevention directly to health promotion. The strategies used in health promotion - advocacy, education,
organizational development and systemic change, and attitude and behaviour change - are widely reflected in the concrete suggestions
offered in the “Support Me” section that follows. Even a glance at the following list of workshops run at the provincial VALIDITY
conference shows that the young women took a broad look at preventing depression and had an intuitive understanding of how
social determinants of health can affect their lives. The young women involved in the conference developed, presented and
facilitated these workshops:
- Media: Interpreting the Illusions and Reclaiming Positive Images of Women
- Recognizing Depression
- Face to Face with Mental Illness: Making Curriculum Connections in the High School Classroom
- Family Relations and Communication
- Depression and Smoking
- Body Image
- Improving Doctor-Patient Communication
- Native Traditional Health: Walking in Balance
- Youth-Led Initiatives
- Inner Power
- Self-Esteem: Sport and Physical Activity
- Educating the Public: Removing the Barriers to Help
- Multicultural Youth - Newcomer Youth Experience
- Yoga
- Visual Art: Moods of Colour
Support Me
Promote Diversity and Empower Young Women
- Combat sexism and create a better role for women in society. For example, leave in your waiting room only magazines that convey
realistic female images. Independently published magazines or “zines” are good; toys are fun too, and books promoting a wide
range of interests, such as modern art. Knowledge of current events or hobbies can offer young women alternatives.
- Empower us! Empower us by being outrageous. Put realistic images of a female body up on the wall! Give us examples . . . to
help us feel “reborn”!!! Young women need to see examples of other successful, realistic women to look up to.
- Create partnerships with companies that support realistic images of women. For example, Dove soap has an advertising campaign
based on redefining beauty, and some of their profits support the National Eating Disorders Information Centre. (For more
information, visit http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com.)
- Promote tolerance and acceptance. Have statistics and facts posted that make young women feel like they are not alone; most
young women are size 14, for example.
- Create accountability in the media leading to improved positive representation of diversity.
- Develop and strengthen young women's self-esteem. For example, host a young women's event and invite young women to participate
in generating the ideas for the activities, and provide them with leadership roles in the planning process. You could host
an evening session, a half-day event, a one-night sleepover, a weekend or even a week-long camp devoted to exploring young
women's issues and developing personal strategies to strengthen their esteem and resiliency! You could also start a Girls
Talk group in your organization or collaborate with local community partners and young women's champions to advocate for a
Girls Talk group in your community. (See Girls Talk for more details.)
- Ensure that teachers are representative of diverse communities.
Listen, Provide Learning Opportunities, Encourage
- Help young women to recognize depression and identify the warning signs so that they can seek help before a depressive episode
occurs.
- Talk with young women about their feelings. Use the ideas and resources in this guide!!
- Encourage discussions about healthy and unhealthy relationships.
- Educate parents and teachers about depression and mental illness and about how they can help, to reduce stigma in the home
and at school.
- Encourage healthy family communication and family relationships. They are crucial to healthy development. Being honest, open,
positive and supportive are key elements.
- Provide workshops for parents, instructing them on parenting in a constructive, loving and supportive manner rather than in
a dysfunctional manner.
- Work with schools (starting in elementary school) to provide more information on and support for people with depression, so
students can talk about problems they are experiencing before things build up and they get depressed. Provide workshops in
schools for sharing experiences in a supportive environment. For example, Talk Cards are cards that you give to people with
a list of people and phone numbers they can connect with about depression.
- Provide books, videos, films, radio shows, comics, music and art relating to depression. The goal is to get the information
into the mainstream to lift the stigma, and to transform something negative into something positive.
- Develop more resources for smaller communities that are youth- and women-oriented.
Create Opportunities to Connect
- Connect young women with each other in a way that strengthens support networks and encourages meaningful relationships.
- Provide a place where young women can go to share their feelings with other young women (e.g., Girls Talk groups in every
community to support the dreams and experiences of young women.)
- Validate and allow the safe expression of girls' and young women's emotions, especially anger.
- Encourage “Safe Space” door hangers. A Safe Space sign on a teacher's door handle means that this is a safe space to go -
just to talk or be there or chill out. It means if you put it on the door and a young woman wants to talk, she can.
- Provide a weekend of inspirational speakers, activities and theatre.
- Make a movie about young women and depression.
The next few pages illustrate existing programs across Ontario that aim to provide support and early intervention to girls
and young women. Consider starting and supporting prevention programs like the following.
Let's Talk . . . Girls Talk
Q: Girls Talk - where did the idea come from?
A: The Girls Talk program was created as a partnership between CAMH and Youth Net/Réseau Ado in Halton and Ottawa, in response
to young women's recommendations at an earlier phase of the VALIDITY project. The participants in this project stressed the
need to have a safe and supportive place to share their feelings with other young women, and to talk openly about the issues
they experience without the fear of negative comments or ridicule.
Q: So . . . what is Girls Talk all about?
A: Girls Talk is a facilitated group discussion with young women between the ages of 12 and 16, who meet on a weekly basis to
discuss issues relevant to them. The group has between seven to 10 sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours. The first pilots took
place in schools and there are others planned for a community centre, a Native Friendship centre and a detention centre. Girls
Talk can take place anywhere that young women are - anytime facilitators are available. The sessions are semi-structured and
include weekly lesson plans to help direct the group sessions. Some of the topics covered include stress, relationships, self-esteem,
media and body image. A variety of activities, such as arts and crafts, journaling, yoga, discussions and guest presenters
are arranged throughout the group. Our experience has shown that variety helps to create a diverse and dynamic model in which
to engage the participants.
Q: What are the goals of the Girls Talk program?
A: The program's goals are to:
- create and improve connections between young women
- create a safe place to share thoughts and feelings
- help foster self-esteem
- teach healthy coping skills
- create opportunities for youth advocacy
- encourage physical activity and positive body image
- provide relevant information about depression
- provide clinical support for young women who may be at risk, and connect them with a safety net of professionals in the community.
Q: What did group members learn?
A: Girls Talk is a program that provides the opportunity for young women to share their experiences, to listen and to benefit
from the experiences of other young women, in a safe and supportive environment. It also provides them with the opportunity
to learn alternative and healthy coping strategies that they may never have been exposed to (such as yoga). Evaluations of
the two pilot groups, which included both pre- and post-assessments, clearly demonstrated that the young women who participated
in this dynamic and interactive program developed skills and increased their level of knowledge and awareness about mental
health and depression.
Q: Who do I contact for more information about Girls Talk?
A: For more information on the Girls Talk program or the VALIDITY project, or for a copy of the complete Girls Talk report,
please contact:
Cathy Thompson
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Hamilton
Tel.: 905 525-1250 ext. 8153
E-mail: cathy_thompson@camh.net
Sadaf Bhatti
Youth Net/Réseau Ado, Halton
Tel.: 905 825-6000 ext. 2972
E-mail: bhattis@region.halton.on.ca
Sarah Brandon
Youth Net/Réseau Ado, Ottawa
Tel.: 613 738-3915
E-mail: brandon@cheo.on.ca
Girls' Nite Project
The Girls' Nite project we've been working on at a school in Toronto is definitely one of a kind. Two teachers at our school
went to a workshop about coming up with innovative solutions for catty and unnecessary, violent behaviour going on at school,
and depression related to that behaviour. One of the ideas was to have a night where there was a sense of community with young
women of all ages, to inspire insight into the world that young women live in. As this is definitely a world like no other,
young women get together and share their experiences and passions with one another, creating a stronger community not only
for that night, but for the rest of the school year.
In the three years that Girls' Nite has been running, the community of young women directly involved in the planning, and
girls involved in any other way, has been phenomenal. Now girls and teachers in schools around Toronto have been interested
in setting up Girls' Nites in their own schools. It is truly amazing what shared experiences, open minds and young women can
do in one night. It has led to years of comfort, respect, a sense of community and a great support system for all girls involved
to pass on.
The young women arrive on a Friday night at about 5:30 and start off with a Wen-Do (self-defence) session in the gym. Then,
we gather in the cafeteria for a potluck followed by concurrent workshops from 6:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Some of the topics have
included: young women and depression, body image, girl violence, healthy sexuality and dating, improv, art expression and
“What did you say?” - Reclaiming Words. After all the activities, we move to the library for movies and a sleepover.
For more information, please contact:
Anne Kerr
Tel.: 416 393-0430
E-mail: anne.kerr@vufa.tdsb.on.ca
Youth Net/Réseau Ado
Youth Net/Réseau Ado is a mental health promotion and early intervention program run by youth for youth. The main goal of
Youth Net is to provide a forum for young people to express, explore and discuss their views and concerns about mental health.
It is an empowering program for youth that increases awareness of mental health issues through discussion groups, education,
peer interactions, advocacy and connections to service providers who have been screened and qualified as “youth friendly”
by youth running the program. Supported by local service professionals, provincial program sites include Ottawa, Peel, Grey
Bruce, Halton and Hamilton.
Visit their web sites for more information:
Ottawa: http://www.youthnet.on.ca
Peel: http://www.youthnet.cmhapeel.ca
Grey Bruce: http://www.cmhagb.org/overview
Hamilton: http://www.hamiltonyouthnet.ca
Halton: http://www.region.halton.on.ca/health/programs/mentalhealth/youth_net/
Enhancing Resiliency
Resiliency is another important element in prevention. Resiliency involves providing opportunities to increase young women's
coping skills, as well as providing healthy, empowering environments. Incorporate opportunities to enhance these skills and
environments. To learn more about resiliency, please visit the following web sites:
Hardy Girls, Healthy Women:
http://www.hardygirlshealthywomen.org/aboutus.php
Resiliency Canada:
http://www.resiliencycanada.ca/whatis
Search Institute:
http://www.search-institute.org/assets
Channing Bete Company:
http://www.channing-bete.com/positiveyouth/pages/prev_sci_body
Partners for Peace:
http://www.partners-for-peace.org/English/resilE
Clinicians from CAMH and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Offer Suggestions to Encourage Young Women to Care for
the Mind, Body and Spirit.
The Mind
Encourage young women to:
- reach out and strengthen the existing connections in their lives (e.g., with friends, family, sports teams, or through spiritual
or religious activities)
- be aware of their own mental health, and of changes that may indicate they are experiencing depression
- seek treatment immediately if signs of depression begin to emerge
- be aware of their family history related to depression
- be aware of their unique triggers for depressive thinking or self-defeating talk
- take active steps to develop a sense of control and autonomy in their lives, wherever they can find it, whatever the realities
that they are living with - and applaud whatever positive steps they take.
The Body
- Encourage young women to eat a balanced diet and get regular exercise - eating well and keeping healthy can influence a person's
mood and is an excellent prevention tool.
- Encourage young women to get involved in a fitness activity that they will enjoy and that suits their needs (e.g., an activity
that is inexpensive, fits into their schedule and is accessible).
- Encourage young women to change high-fat, high-sugar diets, if they can. Some research has shown this type of diet may contribute
to depressive symptoms.
- Young women should aim to eat every day from the four basic food groups (fruits and vegetables, breads and cereals, protein,
and dairy products).
- Deficiencies in folic acid and vitamins B12, B1, B3 and B6 have been found to play a role in depression.
- Diets high in fish and Omega-3 fatty acids, and low in cholesterol, may contribute to improved mood in people with depression.
- Young women who are vegetarians may need to be aware of the potential for iron deficiency and the need for vitamin B12.
- Encourage young women to adopt good sleeping patterns - going to bed at the same time every night, keeping the room dark and
quiet, trying not to exercise after 5 p.m.
- Encourage young women to avoid alcohol and other drugs, or to cut down on their use.
The Spirit
- Help young women to figure out and talk about the things that will give meaning and joy to their lives (e.g., people, animals,
hobbies, music, sports, art).
- Encourage a sense of hope and meaning in life through spirituality. This might include connection to a faith community, meditation
or being in nature.
Centre for Addiction
