Wellness Depository

Hand Washing 101 🧼 👏 🚿

Here are six handwashing tips to keep yourself healthy and help prevent the spread of infectious diseases to others. 

1. When washing your hands, remove any hand or arm jewellery you may be wearing and wet your hands with warm water. Using regular soap, rub your hands together making sure you have lathered all surfaces.
2. Wash the front and back of your hands, as well as between your fingers and under your nails. Wash for at least 15 seconds. How long is 15 seconds? The length of time it takes to sing Happy Birthday.
3. Rinse your hands thoroughly under warm running water.
4. Turn off the tap using the paper towel so that you do not re-contaminate your hands. When using a public bathroom, use the same paper towel to open the door when you leave.
5. Carry around an alcohol-based hand rub in case soap and water are not available.
6. Wash your hands often! Especially after coughing, sneezing or using tissues, before and after eating, before preparing food, after handling raw meat, after petting an animal, and after using the bathroom.

By Rebecca Melville, Registered Nurse, Health & Counselling Centre

Sleep…You know that it’s important for your physical, emotional and cognitive health, but you may not know how to get a better, more restful night’s sleep.

It’s hard to balance classes, assignments, exams as well as social lives and relationships and still manage to sleep well. Practicing good sleep habits will help you achieve optimal academic performance by increasing your ability to focus, remember and retain information as well as improve your ability to study, research and write papers. And studies have shown that in many cases students who get a good night’s sleep perform better on tests than those who stay up late to study. 

Have a look at these 10 tips that will help you catch more Z’s.

Top 10 tips to get a better night’s sleep: 

1. Keep to a regular, consistent sleeping schedule 
2. Turn off electronic devices (including phones) 30-60 minutes prior to bedtime (screens block melatonin).  Also remember to activate the ‘blue light filter’ or ‘eye comfort shield’ on your phone settings.
3. Structure your time during exam season
4. Relaxing bedtime activities (e.g. music, meditation, warm bath)
5. Regular exercise 
6. Avoid / Limit caffeine, nicotine, cannabis and alcohol for at least 3 hours prior to bedtime
7. Sleep friendly bedroom (cool, dark)
8. Avoid naps, especially late in the day
9. Avoid all-nighters
10. Call HCC & talk to a health care provider!

By Lauren Drouillard (she/her), MSW, RSW, Wellness & Resiliency Counsellor, Health & Counselling Centre

Most of us have been there; and there is no getting around the fact that breakups stink! They are also a very common and natural part of dating. The truth is that most folks will experience a break-up at least once in their lifetime. Consider these tips for getting through this challenging and painful time: 

• Don’t invalidate your pain! Grief is a human emotional response to loss, and breakups are loss of a relationship and all that it meant to you.  The relationship might have represented your hopes for future, emotional support, a close friend, daily routines and much more. Remind yourself that no matter the length or type of relationship you were in, loss is loss and it’s okay to grieve. 
  
  Try to avoid using “should” statements. For example, “I shouldn’t be this sad, we didn’t date long.  You feel how you feel and sometimes there is just no getting around that! 
  
  Another thinking style that may make things worse is having black and white expectations of “getting over someone” by using comparisons.  For example, My ex is dating someone else already and I’m not.   These comparisons can make us feel that we aren’t living up to an invisible standard that we are imposing on ourselves.  Everyone deals with this loss differently, it doesn’t mean that we are better or worse than anyone else.
   
• Build a new routine! When we date someone, they typically become integrated into our lives and daily routines, perhaps now more than ever, due to the pandemic. Maybe you engaged in a certain hobby with your partner, watched a weekly TV show together, hung out on weekends or talked on the phone each night. When we break up, we can find we’re missing that person as well as the routine we had with them. Try challenging yourself to build a new routine: reach out to old/new friends, explore hobbies, and find ‘replacement activities’ to fill the time you are used to spending with your ex. 
   
• Maintain your mental health! There’s no better time than the present to go back to the basics of self-care: sleep, nutrition, kind movement, and social connection. Try creating a new bedtime routine for yourself; make sure you are getting enough food to eat, with a variety of nutritious and fun foods; move your body in ways that feel good and reasonable with your mood and stay connected to loved ones for social time – even if it has to be virtually right now. Remember, be kind to yourself and keep your own care top of mind. 
   
• Be mindful of social media! Social media does not make breakups any easier. To help with this, be mindful of when and why you use social media, what accounts/platforms you use, and how you feel afterwards. For instance, if using social media when lonely at night, to look at pictures of your ex, or to compare yourself to others who are “doing better”, it’s likely it makes you feel lousy. Try being aware of this, using it at a less ‘low’ time of day, mute-ing upsetting accounts, and instead following new accounts with more positive content.
   
• Reach out! At the end of the day, most people have been there and can genuinely empathize with how hard breakups are. It can feel helpful to chat to safe and supportive friends or family about how you’re feeling to reduce isolation. That said, we all need some extra support at times, and the HCC is always there for counselling – we even offer same day appointments. Just call (905) 828-5255 or email health.utm@utoronto.ca.

Looking for a family doctor / general physician? 

• If you live in Mississauga, you can visit the Trillium Health Partners Directory for a list of physicians in the area who are accepting new patients.
   
• You can also visit the Halton Region Physicians Accepting New Patients Website for another list of physicians accepting new patients in Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Georgetown).
   
• Health Care Connect refers Ontarians who don't have a physician to a family health care provider who may be accepting new patients. You must have a valid Ontario Health Card (OHIP).
   
• CarePoint Health is an inter-professional care team of allied health professionals and primary care physicians working together to improve the health and wellness of the Mississauga communities. The team serves patients holistically by focusing on the physical, mental and emotional parts of your complete well-being.

By Kimberly Green, RD, former UTM Dietitian, Health & Counselling Centre  

Trying to eat healthier?  Start by downloading this free recipe e-book.  These 15 ‘Good For You’ recipes  were selected by Canadian Dietitians to help you celebrate Nutrition Month with your family, friends and colleagues.  

Are these recipes “good for you?” Great question! What is “good for you” is not the same as for someone else. There is no one-size-fits all approach to healthy eating. What healthy looks like for you is influenced by many things, like your culture and food traditions, personal circumstances and preferences as well as your unique nutritional needs.  

Do you need help finding your “healthy” as a UTM student? Call (905) 828-5255 to book a no-fee appointment with the campus Registered Dietitian. 

Why is it that every movie about a relationship breakup shows them eating ice cream?  That every story about a single or lonely person has them eating chocolate or pizza or some other “forbidden” food? 

This notion that sadness or grief, especially after a break-up, can be consoled by food is a common one.  But does food really help makes us feel better?  Yes, actually!

Research that shows certain components in chocolate actually make us feel happy, producing the same euphoria as being in love.  Most plant-eating mammals, including humans, have evolved to have a preference for sweet foods, as a way to get vital nutrients for energy.  Studies have shown that high-in-fat foods are deeply satisfying to our brain and body.

So yes, food is comfort.  But it shouldn’t be the only comfort when you are dealing with a breakup or experiencing grief.  If you find yourself relying on food to lift your mood very often, talk to your counsellor about other ways to self-soothe, and try these 3 tips: 

• Eat at somewhat regular intervals each day, about 4-6 hours apart. Eating healthy foods regularly can keep your blood sugar steady  – this can help you to make better decisions when thoughts of chocolate or ice cream come to mind. 
   
• Be mindful and present while eating. Turn off your devices and really pay attention to the taste and feel and smell of what you are eating.  Allowing your senses and your brain to really experience the food often allows us to be satisfied with smaller portions and a wider variety of nutritious food. 
   
• Be good to yourself. Taking care of yourself during a break-up (or other sad time) does not mean giving in to every craving, or conversely denying yourself food as pleasure – Self-care is about balance: feeding yourself nutritious, satisfying food (whatever that means to you) in quantities that fill you up.   

Sun Safety - Tips and Advice

Cannabis Education

Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, is now legal in Canada, with cannabis edibles legalized as of October 17, 2019. Cannabis can come with significant risks to your physical, mental, and social well-being. 

If you choose to use, do so responsibly. 

Know the risks of cannabis use:

• problems with thinking, memory, or physical coordination
• impacted brain development in youth (ages 25 and under)
• impaired perceptions or hallucinations
• fatal and non-fatal injuries, including those from motor-vehicle accidents, due to impairment
• mental health problems such as anxiety and psychosis
• cannabis addiction
• chronic respiratory or lung problems
• reproductive problems 
• international travel and/or legal implications
• poor academic performance

Reduce health risks related to cannabis use:

1. Cannabis use has health risks best avoided by abstaining
2. Delay taking up cannabis use until later in life
3. Identify and choose lower-risk cannabis products
4. Don’t use synthetic cannabinoids
5. Avoid smoking burnt cannabis – choose safer ways of using
6. If you smoke cannabis, avoid harmful smoking practices
7. Limit and reduce how often you use cannabis
8. Don’t use and drive, or operate other machinery
9. Avoid cannabis use altogether if you are at risk for mental health problems or are pregnant
10. Avoid combining these risks  

Adapted from: Fischer, B., Russell, C., Sabioni, P., van den Brink, W., Le Foll, B., Hall, W., Rehm, J. & Room, R. (2017). Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines (LRCUG): An evidence-based update. American Journal of Public Health, 107 (8). DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303818.

Get more information:

• Canada’s Canada's Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines (LRCUG)
• Cannabis in Canada: Get the Facts canada.ca/cannabis
• Cannabis Legalization in Ontario ontario.ca/cannabis

Need to speak to someone? Help is always available. 

Health & Counselling Centre | (905)-828-5255 
Good2Talk Post-Secondary Student Helpline | 1-(866)-925-5454
CAMH | (416) 535-8501
Peel Addiction Assessment & Referral Centre (PAARC) | (905) 629-1007

Responding to Distressed Students 🗣️