It’s fun to join the office lottery pool once in a while or getting some scratch tickets for your birthday. To dream of the fancy new house you’ll buy, all the places you’d travel to… There’s a difference, however, between buying the occasional lottery ticket and cashing your paycheck at the casino.  Problem gambling leads to a variety of serious personal and professional problems including depression, bankruptcy, domestic abuse, fraud, theft, and homelessness. These effects are also detrimental to the addicts' loved ones. This is why the Canada Safety Council treats problem gambling as a community safety matter and crime prevention issue. Gambling is one of the most crafty or subtle vices we can face because it gives the illusion of easy money. That of course, can lead to financial destitution. Whether it’s blackjack or bingo, gambling is a strong industry because the house always wins.  A gambling addiction can also be difficult to recognize, not j ...

Earlier this month a $32 million investment into Ontario’s opioid crisis was announced. Camille Quenneville, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario Division announced “that 2020 was the worst year on record for opioid-related deaths. More than 2,400 died last year, a 60% increase from 2019”. With this investment CMHA is encouraging the government to further support people and communities struggling with substance use issues. This article will explore Ontario’s Opioid Crisis and what is being done about it. WHAT ARE OPIOIDS Opioids are a broad collective of medications that relieve pain. These drugs interact with opioid receptors in your brain, spine, and other areas throughout the body. In essence, opioids tell your brain not to feel pain. These drugs are only available through prescription from your doctor and require management to ensure you are not taking too much, too often. Opioids include (but are not limited to: Codeine Fentanyl (Abstral, ...

We all want to achieve better mental health. It’s such a daunting goal though, especially if we don’t know what we’re looking for or how we’re going to get it. Setting goals for your mental health is just like setting goals for your physical health (such as losing weight) or setting goals for work (such as learning a new skill). Your goals need to be SMART: Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-bound This article focuses on good goals for your mental health and how to achieve them. SETTING SMART GOALS To successfully reach most goals in life, it’s important to know what you want, how you plan to achieve it, and how to track your progress. That’s why we set SMART goals. As an example, let’s use a common goal many of us have shared at one point or another; to lose weight. A SMART weight loss goal looks like this: “I want to lose 20 pounds by cutting out snacking and exercise by November 1, so I feel more comfortable on our beach vaca ...