Equiflash Archive

As so many artists in live performance continue to navigate the uncertainties of an industry profoundly impacted by COVID-19, we encourage you to take this Mental Health Week as an opportunity to check in with yourself and those around you.

At some point over the past two years, you or your loved ones have likely experienced increased stress or anxiety due to a loss of normalcy. This loss, which continues to affect our community, is a form of grief. Naming our emotions is one of the best strategies for managing them during times of uncertainty. Although we hadn’t faced a pandemic before, many of us have faced loss. “Grief” provides us familiar vocabulary to remember our past resilience and gain confidence in our ability to face current challenges.

Check out the Mental Health and Wellness page on Equity’s website as well as these other resources:

• Al & Malka Green Artists' Health Centre
  Artists’ Health Centre is a facility located in the Family and Community Medicine Program at Toronto Western Hospital. Equipped with an Acoustic Studio and Movement Assessment Studio with a sprung floor to aid in diagnosis and treatment. The Centre is the only clinic of its kind in Canada that specializes in serving the entire artistic community.
  
  
• Arts Health Network
  Arts Health Network is Canada’s primary arts and health knowledge sharing, networking and capacity building hub, designed to help promote and facilitate the development and growth of arts and health initiatives across Canada.
  
  
• Artists for Mental Health
  Artists for Mental Health is an artist-led not-for-profit organization that strives to end the stigma surrounding mental health amongst the artistic community and build an empathetic society of healthier, happier, and more resilient individuals.
  
  
• Canadian Mental Health Association
  CMHA’s website allows you to search by geographic location for your local CMHA branch where there are local resources highlighted.
  
  
• Coping with COVID: Centering Wellness and Self-Care for Creatives
  This free online workshop hosted by Creative Capital and artist/energy healer Rhonda Wheatley included “a conversation about wellness amid the isolation, anxiety, and uncertainty many are facing due to the pandemic.”
  
  
• The AFC: Designated Sharing Time
  Designated Sharing Time (DST) is a non-judgmental virtual meeting space to talk, vent, problem-solve, laugh, collaborate, cry, and feel the strength of others. Register now to participate.
  
  
• The AFC: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Virtual Training Course
  The AFC offers a course developed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada designed to help you understand the signs and symptoms of someone in a mental health crisis and know how to help.