Learn about mental health Tips & info Is this option right for me? Get information about how your thoughts, feelings and behaviours are connected and what you can do to care for your well-being. Learning about mental health can help empower you with the language to communicate how you’re feeling. Find resources Black youth Body image Bullying COVID-19 Dating, sex & consent Eating disorders Equity Friends Family & caregivers Feelings First Nations, Inuit and Métis Growth & healing Jobs, money & housing 2SLGBTQ+ Newcomers Physical health Safety School Self-care Self-injury & suicide Substance use Real-life stories Find resources by group Resources for supporting a young person in your life Tools for supporting others Build your skills Quizzes, games & activities Is this option right for me? Practise with tools, tips and resources to help build your skills and improve your wellness in the way that feels best for you. Learn how to identify your strengths, communicate thoughts and feelings, overcome obstacles and connect with support. Take a quiz Find out how much you know about specific topics and get resources to learn more. Play a game Reduce stress and have fun at the same time. Map out your support network Identify who and where your community is to get help when you need it. Share what’s on your mind Try different tools to express how you’re feeling. Make a safety plan Access tools for safety planning and reporting. Practise mindfulness Regain calm and relax with these activities. Try a self-assessment Identify how you’re feeling and find resources to support you right now. Connect with other youth Support forums & real-life stories Is this option right for me? Explore lived experiences from other young people across Canada. Learn from real-life youth stories, gain new ideas and ask questions to connect and inspire your own wellness journey. Learn about your privacy Get real-time support from your peers A space to connect with other youth and tell your story, provide encouragement or get support (or all of the above!). Visit the support forums Learn more about connecting with your peers or Get inspired Learn how other people have supported their wellness. Get insights Find out what other young people are contacting us about. Get crisis support right now Text or message Is this option right for me? If you need help right now, you can talk to a trained volunteer crisis responder about anything you're going through. No issue is too big or too small. Learn about your privacy Text message Get support right now by texting CONNECT to 686868. Tap to text Learn more about texting Facebook Messenger Get support right now using Facebook Messenger. Tap to message Learn more about Facebook Messenger All of our e-mental health services are free 24/7 for people across Canada. If you identify as Indigenous, you can ask to be connected with a First Nations, Inuk or Métis crisis responder (if one’s available) by messaging FIRST NATIONS, INUIT or METISto 686868 or through Facebook Messenger. Learn more Work with a counsellor Call or chat Is this option right for me? Connect with a professional counsellor to better understand what you're going through and help take a step in the direction you want to go. Learn about your privacy By phone Get support in multiple languages over the phone 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868. Tap to call Find out more about phone counselling Chat online Chat with a professional counsellor online from 7 p.m. to midnight ET. Learn more about Live Chat All of our e-mental health services are free 24/7 for people across Canada. Search programs near me Support service directory

Luke Reece (he / him) and Cassandra Myers (they / she) are artists and performers who use poetry and spoken word to tell stories. In the video below, Luke and Cassandra perform their spoken word poem “The Dirt’s Internet.” Through phrases like “trees talk to each other more than my family talks to me” and “I have a bird song for this kind of sadness, and no one is tweeting back,” they explore how nature, well-being and social media can be connected.  

The Dirt’s Internet: A spoken word video about well-being and connection

depression Tagged with  sadness Tagged with  art Tagged with  social media Tagged with  video Tagged with  real-life stories Tagged with  equity Tagged with  community

Video transcript Icon trigger Contrary to popular belief, If a tree falls in a forest, The whole canopy leans in an ear Did you know trees can talk? Billions of living wires whispering Are you okay Are you Okay Are you Okay   It’s protective, to run a root through the soil beneath you reaching for a living “I’m here” “I’’m with you” Because alone is a dirt that will bury us Leaving us poking through the earth for sunlight   But sometimes, us humans, even with all our thumbs connected can’t manage to speak about the elephant in the room because its trunk is a tree we are living in   I have a bird song for this kind of sadness and no one is tweeting back   Trees talk to each other more than my family talks to me I don’t know how to tell my friends that I am wilting, a cowering fern   I have crown shyness, too much noise in the foliage of a schoolyard Calling into the hollow hardwood becomes scrolling with my lips to my thumb   A blink, a notification on silent, I open the app with my eyes closed   Dad says, we don’t draw attention to the aphids burrowing through our family tree We keep it closed in all the bark we have thickened, this brownness we armored Sometimes I hear voices calling me to peel off a branch Where are the voices telling us to hold on?   Where are the nutrients of someone singing us in from the rain? We crave the grounding of an exhale, the making of an easy breath, for someone to sway in tandem with our silent plea   Ear to the ground I listen for them Eyes tethered to the thought that tripped me   There is someone someone who wants to whittle down the worry in your brain rearrange the furniture, pull up the floorboards, shake out the rafters rake the leaves and make some space For you to be witnessed, even just for a moment, even just for a second to carve your initials into the bark, and say I was here and I was hurting but it doesn’t have to be forever, it can just be right now.   There are wires under this entire city, a root system, the dirt’s internet Trees know when other trees are suffering, all without sound, all with a signal A green ping, a text saying, “what’s on your mind?”   I am sending a signal saying I need someone I am sending it through the networks of me Through my neurons and my blood and my roots I am asking with all that I am – please tell me that I’m not alone That it is okay to feel this way That my brown skin means if I stand in a forest I’m accompanied by my ancestors, They soil me to a solar system of belonging Of being enough All wanting me to tell my story, to stay, to grow   If a tree falls in a forest, We are held by our networks Even when we’re leaning off a bluff Clinging to our roots Falling trees aren’t gone, aren’t broken, aren’t lost They keep talking, keep living, As long as there is someone to listen.