The Mental Health Continuum Booster
Read the following scenario and then use the Mental Health Continuum Tool to answer the questions:
You joined your shift three years ago and consider yourself a well-respected member of the team who is always there for others. You have a lot of personal responsibilities as a single parent as well as supporting an elderly parent who has chronic health problems. For the past few months, you’ve been having trouble sleeping and frequently feel exhausted and anxious at work. By the end of shift, you find yourself breaking down in tears. You have been to see your family doctor and they prescribed an anti-depressant medication and have encouraged you to take some leave time.
Refer to the Mental Health Continuum Tool in the sections below:
|
Normal mood fluctuations Calm Confident |
Irritable Impatient Nervous Sadness |
Angry Anxious Pervasive sadness |
Easily enraged Excessive anxiety/panic Depressed mood, numb |
|
Good sense of humor Takes things in stride Ability to concentrate and focus on tasks |
Displaced sarcasm Intrusive thoughts Sometimes distracted or loss of focus on tasks |
Negative attitude Recurrent intrusive thoughts Constantly distracted or cannot focus on tasks |
Noncompliant Suicidal thoughts/intent Inability to concentrate, loss of memory or cognitive abilities |
|
Physically and socially active Present Performing well |
Decreased activity/socializing Present but distracted Procrastination |
Avoidance Tardiness Decreased performance |
Withdrawal Absenteeism Can’t perform duties/tasks |
|
Normal sleep patterns Good appetite Feeling energetic Maintaining a stable weight |
Trouble sleeping Changes in eating patterns Some lack of energy Some weight gain or loss |
Restless sleep Loss of appetite Some tiredness or fatigue Fluctuations or changes in weight |
Cannot fall/stay asleep No appetite Constant and prolonged fatigue or exhaustion Extreme weight gain or loss |
|
Limited alcohol consumption, no binge drinking Limited/no addictive behaviours No trouble/impact due to substance use |
Regular to frequent alcohol consumption, limited binge drinking Some to regular addictive behaviours Limited to some trouble/impact due to substance use |
Frequent alcohol consumption, binge drinking Struggle to control addictive behaviours Increasing trouble/impact due to substance use |
Regular to frequent binge drinking Addiction Significant trouble/impact due to substance use |
The Working Mind First Responders
The Mental Health Continuum Booster