red stop sign text reading when to ask for help

If you notice any of these changes in your own (or others') moods or behaviours, there are questions you can ask to gauge how much these changes are affecting life and help determine whether it is time to get support. Completing a self-assessment on the WellU Key and continuing to check in on a regular basis can also help you notice trends in your mental health over time.

Changes in Thoughts/Behaviours
  • Have you had dramatic changes in eating or sleeping habits?
  • Have you had strong feelings of anger?
  • Have you stopped enjoying things you used to?
  • Have you had a growing inability to cope with daily problems and activities?
  • Are you forgetting important events or tasks, or do you feel like you’ve “lost time”?
  • Do you ever feel disconnected from reality, or hear, see, or feel things that others do not?
Changes at Work or School
  • Are you missing school, avoiding certain classes, struggling in school, or missing out on extracurricular activities?
  • Are you constantly thinking or worrying about what’s going on at school, even when you're not there?
  • Are you missing work, avoiding certain tasks, or struggling to complete or understand a task?
  • Are you constantly thinking or worrying about what’s going on at work, or your performance at work, even when you're not there?
Changes in Relationships
  • Are you fighting with your parents or family members more often than usual?
  • Are you fighting with your friends or partners more than usual?
  • Have you withdrawn from your social networks?
  • Do you ever feel like others are out to get you, or purposely hurt you?
  • Has someone checked in on you, asked about your mental health, or expressed concern about changes they’ve noticed in your behaviour?
Self-Injury
  • Have you thought about harming yourself as a way to cope with how you're feeling?
  • Have you harmed youself by cutting, burning, deep scratching, or by other means?
  • Have you injured yourself with the intention of causing yourself harm, but not dying?
  • Have you harmed yourself, or expressed thoughts about harming yourself, to get someone else’s attention?
Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviours
  • Have you injured yourself with the intention of dying or ending up in the hospital?
  • Have you had passive suicidal thoughts, like thinking “I want to die,” “I want to kill myself,” or “My family would be better off if I died”?
  • Have you made a plan to attempt suicide?
  • Are you planning who will get your belongings, and how to say goodbye to loved ones?
  • Have you written a suicide note?

If you are experiencing any of the above, or need immediate help access support services here.

*Information adapted from The Jed Foundation