Thrive — explore your path to mental health on and off campus

Thrive is an annual mental health literacy campaign that UBC runs each November. Although supporting mental health is a year-round pursuit, Thrive is an opportunity to come together as a community, whether you’re on campus or at home, to learn, talk, and explore ways to support mental health.

The focus of Thrive is promoting and building mental health literacy — understanding how to obtain and maintain mental health, recognizing the diversity of experiences and perspectives, enhancing help-seeking skills, and decreasing stigma to help create a supportive culture at UBC. These skills are crucial to supporting mental health, and living, working and learning well.

Five ways to support and promote mental health

Research shows that there are five ways that promote and support mental health. These are the Thrive 5 (Moving more, Sleeping soundly, Eating well, Giving back, Saying Hi). 

While the Thrive 5 are some of the most commonly cited ways to foster and maintain mental health, they are not the only ways. Mental health is different for everyone — and so are the ways to support it. For some, it might be engaging in arts and culture or connecting through spirituality for others. Many people also find being in nature restorative and effective, while others practice gratitude.

Three ways you can get involved in Thrive

• Participate in Thrive events: From arts and culture, physical activities, panel discussions, workshops and more, there are lots of events on the Thrive calendar to encourage conversations about mental health, and explore ways to support it. 
   
• Register for Not Myself Today: Not Myself Today is an evidence-based workplace mental health initiative created by the Canadian Mental Health Association. It’s offered for free through UBC HR. Departments and units can register online and help foster safe and supportive work cultures. It includes an online platform with learning modules and resources.  
   
• Connect with your Workplace Wellbeing Ambassador: These Ambassadors are spread across the university and support the Health and Wellbeing team in their effort to embed wellbeing and wellbeing practices within UBC workplaces.

Thrive is for everyone — we all have mental health, and while it might look and feel different for each of us, we all benefit from maintaining and fostering it.

For more information, visit www.wellbeing.ubc.ca/thrive-5.