Resources to support your teen’s mental health
AboutKidsHealth has resources to help teens support their mental health and manage stress and anxiety as they prepare to return to school. 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.
Resources to help teens support their overall wellbeing
To improve sleep, it can be helpful for teens to:
- develop healthy bedtime habits
- create a more comfortable sleep environment
- prepare the night before to ensure a good start to each morning (e.g., setting an alarm for the morning and planning and prepping breakfast before bed)
See, Sleep and mental health: Sorting out your sleep routine for more tips to help teens set themselves up for good quality sleep night after night.
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. Teens who are not already physically active will find tips on how to get started. Teens who are physically active can learn whether they are getting the right kinds and right amounts of physical activity each day.
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 help preparing for sleep, visit the Guided meditations and Animations libraries in the learning hub, which contain helpful videos and audio meditations.
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.
