Community News
Disability Tax Credit: Combating Inflation

The Disability Tax Credit (DTC) is a valuable tool in mitigating the impacts of inflation and rising costs of living for individuals with disabilities. By accessing this credit, individuals can receive financial relief that helps them manage their daily expenses. The DTC provides tax breaks for eligible individuals with disabilities, recognizing the additional costs associated with their condition. It offers a means to offset the financial burden imposed by inflation and increasing living expenses, such as medical costs, adaptive equipment, and specialized care. By claiming the DTC, individuals can access much-needed financial support, ensuring their ability to maintain a decent quality of life despite economic challenges.

Benefits of a Removable Partial Denture

A removable partial denture (RPD) replaces one or more missing teeth. Your denturist will personally design an RPD to help limit movement (tipping and migrating) of your natural teeth. The design will also provide even contact between teeth to allow for better grinding/chewing of your food for easier digestion. Metal partials are preferred, as they are structurally superior, thinner, and more hygienic than an acrylic partial. By replacing any missing natural teeth with an RPD, a natural appearance and speech clarity is restored, along with the ability to chew more efficiently.

Let Us Help You Quit!

Are you finally ready to get rid of your cigarettes, for good? No matter what other programs you have tried and no matter how long you have smoked, all you need is a strong desire to quit. At Smartchoice Laser, we apply a low-level laser to your body’s natural energy flow points to stimulate the release of endorphins in the body. These same chemicals are raised artificially when you smoke. Laser treatment causes the body to feel effects similar to what you get when you smoke, relieving the physical withdrawal symptoms. For most people, physical cravings will be significantly reduced or completely eradicated.

Part 3:

Lived Experience, Inner Network Support, and Peer Support.
Friends and Family
Your family and friends can be your greatest allies in the path to recovery. There are a few ways to approach them when asking for support. Even if they do not understand what you are going through, they’ll most likely want to help in any way they can. The best way to guide them is to simply tell them what you need. People naturally want to give advice and problem solve but let them know that they can help by just listening to you. Ask them to be patient with you when you feel low because recovery takes time.

Friends and family can serve as vital support systems, and they can help you answer questions or find someone who can answer your questions on recovery. If you are under your family’s insurance plan, you can talk to them about finding a doctor, therapist, or psychiatrist that is covered by insurance in your area. If you are in school, you can talk to a guidance counselor about your concerns and see what options there are for help. For more information on how to ask your friends and family for help, go to mental health screening at www.mhanational.org.

Peer Support
An important contributor to recovery, peer support is a supportive relationship between people who have a lived experience in common. The peer support worker provides emotional and social support to others who share a common experience.

Peer support is typically provided through non-profit organizations.

Did you know that Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba (MDAM) offers several online and in-person peer support groups throughout Manitoba? Our current peer support groups include*:

VIRTUAL Peer Support Groups
Age 12 – 29 Disordered Eating | Mon 4:30 – 5:30 pm
Age 12 – 29 Youth Self-Esteem | Mon 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Power to Parent | Mon 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Mixed Peer Support | Mon 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Soul Sisters | Tue 10:00 – 11:00 am
Youth Peer Support | Tue 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Women’s Disordered Eating | Tue 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Letting Go | Tue 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Friends & Family | Tue 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Unloading Zone | Wed 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Men’s Peer Support | Wed 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Women’s Peer Support | Thu 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Men’s Exchange | Thu 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Baby Blues & Better Days | Thu 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Bipolar Peer Support | Thu 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Interlake-Eastman Peer Support | Fri 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Mixed Peer Support | Sat 11:00 – 12:00 pm
Postpartum Peer Support | Sat 9:00 – 10:00 am
IN-PERSON Peer Support Groups
Men’s Support | Mon 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Age 12 – 29 Disordered Eating (Brandon) | Mon 4:30 – 5:30 pm
Youth Self-Esteem (Brandon) | Mon 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Senior’s Tea & Tales | Tue 1:30 – 3:30 pm
Mixed Coffee & Chat | Tue 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Mixed Bipolar | Tue 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Self-Help Book Club (Winnipeg) | Wed 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Men’s Activity Club (Brandon) | Wed 1:30 – 3:30 pm
Senior’s Tea & Tales (Selkirk) | Thu 12:00 – 2:30 pm
Depression & Anxiety | Thu 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Women’s Support | Thu 6:45 – 7:45 pm For more information and the most current listing of our peer support groups, please visit our website at: https://www.mooddisordersmanitoba.ca/services. Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba is committed to advocating for and supporting those with mental health issues.Donate Online: Memoriam and Tribute Donations
Donate In-person: 100-4 Fort Street, Winnipeg. MDAM SUPPORT LINES
Peer Support: 204-560-1461 • Toll-Free: 1-800-263-1460

Preventing Lyme Disease

There are several kinds of ticks crawling around Manitoba, including the Deer Tick which is responsible for transmitting Lyme Disease. Avoiding tick bites is the best way to prevent this. Here’s how you can keep yourself bite-free when spending time outdoors: 1) Wear closed-toe shoes, long sleeves, and pants. 2) Walk on pathways, staying clear of heavily wooded areas. 3) Use bug spray with DEET or picaridin. 4) After being outside, check yourself, children, gear, and pets for ticks, bathe, and put all clothes worn outdoors into a dryer for 10-20 minutes. If you find an embedded tick, gently remove it using tweezers by pulling close to the skin, avoiding squeezing the tick.

End the Self-Sabotage

Did you know your unconscious mind could be keeping you from having what you truly want in your life, and could even be sabotaging your best efforts? Most of us don’t realize that we make commitments to ourselves other than the ones we’re consciously aware of. These unconscious commitments fuel your thoughts and behaviours, and create your reality. They are what creates the gap between what you say you want and what you are actually experiencing. For example, when you were young, you experienced a difficult situation and didn’t know how to process it. You made a decision (consciously or unconsciously) to make it mean something about you or the world around you. This formed a belief as a coping mechanism and your mind believed it was necessary for survival. Maybe it’s “I’ll stay quiet so I won’t seem stupid” or “Good girls do what they’re told”. Even though these beliefs and decisions are old, they have stuck with you, been reinforced over time and prevent you from having the things you truly desire. Ready to expose and erase those unconscious commitments and choose new ones? This is the powerful work we do in the Shine True programs.

Lesley Steppler RHN, BSW, RSW | Shine True Wellness

www.shinetruewellnessco.com

Social Worker

A social worker’s role is to help individuals, families, and communities overcome social and economic challenges. They provide support, counseling, and advocacy services to those in need, often working with vulnerable populations such as children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. Social workers also work with government agencies and community organizations to develop and implement programs that promote social justice and equality.

What Can a Social Worker Do for Me?
 Talk to all health care professionals involved with your mental health challenges including family members sometimes.
 Put together a care plan: best methods of recovery tailored to you.
 Most mental health social workers are trained to counsel on some minor issues.
 Educate on mental health in general, and the importance of treating these issues.
 Help find treatment facilities and in-patient mental health care centers, if necessary.
 Help attend to daily needs (i.e., help you find and apply for certain types of assistance, such as employment and income benefits or disability benefits).
 Monitor your progress and determine whether your treatment plan is working for you.
 Help you find different doctors or facilities that can better cater to your needs. Where Can I Find a Social Worker?
 Hospitals.
 Psychiatric Hospitals.
 Mental Health Facilities.
 Community Health Centers.
 Rehabilitation Centers.
 Schools.
 Detention Centers.
 Government Agencies.

Your Mental Health Advocates

Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba is committed to advocating for and supporting those with mental health issues.
Get Involved: MoodMb.ca You can help us make a difference.
Donate Online: Memoriam and Tribute Donations
Donate In-person: 100-4 Fort Street, Winnipeg
MDAM SUPPORT LINES
Peer Support: 204-560-1461 • Toll-Free: 1-800-263-1460

6 Health Problems Caused by Smoking

Here are 6 health problems caused by smoking that you probably didn’t know about! 1. Loss of Eye Sight – Smoking increases your risk of age-related macular degeneration.
2. Erectile Dysfunction – Tobacco causes narrowing of the blood vessels all over your body, including those that supply blood to the penis. 3. Ectopic Pregnancy – Is a life-threatening reproductive complication in women that is more likely in smokers. 4. Hip Fractures – Smokers lose bone density.
5. Colorectal Cancer – Smoking is linked to an increased risk of developing and dying from this type of cancer. 6. Rheumatoid Arthritis – It causes painful swelling that can eventually result in bone loss and joint deformity.

Therapist

Therapy is a type of treatment that is common in both physical as well as mental health disorders. To differentiate from physical therapy, it is called psychotherapy when emotional and behavioral problems are being treated. Though it is the therapist who does the talking with the patient during psychotherapy, the feelings or the emotions displayed by the patient while talking about their problems give lots of clues to the therapist about the root problems of the patient.

What Can a Therapist Do for Me?
 Offer you treatment.
 Teach you ways of coping with your feelings and ways to cope with troublesome situations.
 Helps you deal with feelings of anger, depression, guilt, anxiety, shyness, etc.

Where Can I Find a Therapist?
 Private therapy practices, including online therapy options.
 Group therapy practices.
 Hospitals.
 Nursing Homes.
 Pain Clinics.
 Rehabilitation Clinics.
 Community and Mental Health Centers.
 Correctional Facilities.

Stay tuned for next month when we explore mental health roles within the public health care system in Manitoba.