Mental health resources for teens
AboutKidsHealth has resources to help teens support their mental health and manage stress and anxiety during these uncertain times. In the Mental Health Learning Hub for teens, there is information on various mental health conditions, as well as resources to help teens support their overall wellbeing, which may be affected by changes to their routines. Teens can visit the wellbeing section of the Mental Health Learning Hub to learn about the importance of a healthy sleep routine, regular physical activity and a balanced diet for mental health and overall wellbeing.
To improve sleep, it can be helpful for teens to develop healthy bedtime habits, create a more comfortable sleep environment and make plans to have a good start to each morning (e.g., setting an alarm for the morning and planning and prepping breakfast before bed). More information and videos to help teens get to sleep more easily can be found in Sleep and mental health: Sorting out your sleep routine.
Physical activity
For information on physical activity, including the types of physical activity teens should be getting each day, see Physical activity and mental health: Types of physical activity. This article can be helpful for teens who participate in various levels of activity. For instance, teens who are already physically active can learn whether they are getting the right kinds and right amounts of physical activity each day, and teens who are not physically active will find tips on how to get started.
Nutrition
In this section, teens will learn the basics of a healthy diet, which includes a mix of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and macronutrients (complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats), and how each type of food contributes to their mood and general wellbeing. Also included is a resource on developing healthy eating habits and a healthy body image.
A full list of resources can be found in the Wellbeing menu of the Teen Mental Health Learning Hub.
If your teen is feeling overwhelmed, stressed or needs to bring themselves back into the present moment, visit the “Guided meditations” and “Animations” libraries in the learning hub.
AboutKidsHealth is SickKids’ health-education website and features more than 3,500 articles on a range of health topics. For more information for teens on mental health and other health topics, visit teens.aboutkidshealth.ca. For mental health information for caregivers, visit www.aboutkidshealth.ca.
