17 WING WINNIPEG
MISSION:
MENTAL
HEALTH
Recognize. Respond. Recover.
Every mission begins with a single step
Take a moment to walk through each symptom listed below. Clicking through will show you real actions and resources you can take — whether it’s self-care, reaching out, or asking for backup. You’re not alone on this path.
Who are you here to support?
You have a Duty to Report as per CANFORGEN 099/24 (13) –
All Members shall continue to report in the following circumstances:
a. When there are reasons to believe that an individual may pose a threat to themselves or others,
b. When there is indication of abuse of a child or vulnerable person,
c. When there is knowledge of a breach of trust, fraud or other financial crime associated with public funds; and
d. When they become aware of a potential breach of the law of armed conflict (LOAC)
↓Start Here↓
For Yourself
Click on a symptom to expand its definition and discover helpful resources
Engaged in Your Life
– You want to participate and be a part of your own life, whatever that means to you
Actively Demonstrate CAF Ethos & Values Regularly
– You are able to display basic respect for others and act professional
Maintaining / Improving Personal Performance Standards
– The little things don’t get to you, and you are able to go with the flow of life
Engaged in Typical Hobbies/Interests
– You find your down time enjoyable and want to continue to participate in your standard hobbies and interests on a regular basis
Starting to Call in Sick More Often
– You find yourself looking for excuses to not come into work.
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Sudden Extreme Change in Appearance or Weight
– You are always eating and never feel full
– You can go all day without eating and not even notice.
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Unrested
– You have more days where you feel like you didn’t sleep well, regardless of your actual sleeping pattern
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Distracted/Distant
– You find yourself zoning out at random times
– You have trouble controlling where your thoughts go
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Noticeable Increase in Addictive Behaviours
– You notice yourself playing video games even when you try to put them down
– You notice you want a substance to escape
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Uncharacteristically Sarcastic
– You find that you are you are coming out sarcastic and possibly mean most of the time
– There are times you hear the sarcasm, but you did not mean for it to be there
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Constantly Irritated
– You feel uncontrollably irritable most the time
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Missing Deadlines, not Completing Work
– You can not seem to work as well, or as efficiently as you used to
– Some days you feel like you have “forgotten” how to do your job effectively
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Unable to Problem Solve
– You notice that you can not seem to solve even simple problems
– When things around you change, you find you freeze, cant think straight and/or have the inability to come up with even a simple solution
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Straddling the Line of Acceptable CAF Behaviours
– You start doing things that normally you would consider to be outside your morales, ethics and values
– You start receiving corrective FNs/verbal warnings or higher disciplinary actions at work
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Not Completing Tasks / Missing Deadlines
– Not finishing things you start, lack of motivation
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Exhausted
– No matter how much or how little you sleep you never really feel rested
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Extreme Euphoria Following Extreme Negative Behaviour/Emotional Pattern
IMMEDIATE HELP REQUIRED
– This usually follows planning suicide or seeing it through in your head
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Extreme Paranoia – Real or Perceived
IMMEDIATE HELP REQUIRED
– Everyone is out to get you, work and/or personal life
– Your friends don’t like you anymore, or don’t want to be around you
– People are talking about you behind your back
– Possible visual and/or auditory hallucinations
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Planning for the Future – Career to Weekend
– You are active in the planning and implementation of goals for your career and personal life
HEALTHY
STATUS QUO
Rebound From Conflict
– You are able to deal with conflict calmly and professional, without dwelling on past issues
Positive Future Outlook
– You have plans for the future, both personal and career and look on them with positivity
DO SOMETHING
WATCH
Change in Behaviour: Less Involvement in Hobbies,
– You find that hobbies, activities, projects, etc that you used to get excited over, no longer seem appealing to you
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Lack of Personal Hygiene
– You have days where you can’t remember the last time you had a shower.
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Appears Emotionally Shutdown
– You find that you may not feel negative all the time, but you are not feeling positive either.
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Uncharacteristically Sarcastic
– You find that hobbies, activities, projects, etc that you used to get excited over, no longer seem appealing to you
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
DO SOMETHING
ACT
No Longer Involved in Hobbies
– The reason doesn’t matter
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Noticeable Pattern of Lateness, Missed Appointments, etc
– It feels like no matter what you do, you are always late and always missing appointments
– You can not find a reason for this new pattern
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Distracted/Distant/Zoning Out
– You loose entire periods of time “zoneing out” and you don’t remember what you were thinking
– You seem to struggle following directions that used to seem simple
– You struggle to keep up and stay focussed in group conversations/meetings
– Your thought patterns seem to “have a mind of their own”
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Increasing Random Angry Outbursts
– You are unable to control your emotions more often than you seem in control
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
URGENT
CRISIS
Difficulty Controlling Emotions – Extreme Uncontrollable Mood Swings
– Feeling like your emotions control you, your actions and your reactions
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Violent/Aggressive Behaviour, Unable to Keep Anger Under “Control”, Outbursts
IMMEDIATE HELP REQUIRED
– Have you thought about how you can do it, have you started to make plans, do you see it happening in your head?
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Not Wanting to go to Work, or Possibly Even Leave the House
– You find yourself coming up with reasons (real or made up) not to do things
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Harming Self (self-injury)
IMMEDIATE HELP REQUIRED
– This can include but is not limited to putting your fist into an object, cutting, participating in unsafe situations or purposely putting yourself in harms way
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Maintains Balanced Emotional Response
– Your emotional state and responses are within your control and in line with your core values
Calm, Takes Things in Strid
– The little things don’t get to you, and you are able to go with the flow of life
Appear Rested
– Your sleeping patterns are “normal” for you
Physically Active
– You are physically active on a regular basis
Over Committed (hobbies, work positions, etc) – Distraction Technique
– You are volunteering and getting involved in everything to keep yourself distracted
– You are not taking into consideration your time and/or ability prior to committing to things
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Change in Behaviour: Less Involvement in Hobbies
– You find that hobbies, activities, projects, etc that you used to get excited over, no longer seem appealing to you
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Increased Irritability
– You start to notice that small things that normally wouldn’t bother you, you struggle to let go of
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Random Angry Outbursts
– There are times you can not seem to control your emotions
COA: You are encouraged to actively watch your behaviours and symptoms for signs of movement into Orange. You can achieve this by returning to re-check your behaviours and symptoms regularly until you return to the green. Fluctuation between yellow and green is common and considered healthy. Seek someone you trust to talk it out when and if you are ready
Lack of Personal Hygiene
– You have extended periods (week(s)) where you can’t remember the last time you had a shower, changed your clothes, shaved, groomed, etc
– You don’t always care that your personal hygiene has decreased
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
A Lot of Absence From Work
– You find yourself at home sick more often than you are at work
– You find you have run out of credible excuses to be absent form work
– You start lying to not go into work
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Noticeable Addictive Behaviours
– You find you can not go a day without finding some sort of an “escape”
– You find that you are needing a mind/mood altering substance
– You find you are counting the hours until the end of the day when you can “escape”
– Your “escaping” starts affecting other areas of your life; You barely sleep due to being up all night, you consider using a substance at work, etc
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Avoidant Behaviours
– You are actively avoiding things you normally have no issues following through with. Plans with others, social time with co-workers, answering your phone or texts
– You usually lies in order to get out of plans, or are always canceling last minute
COA: You are encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional to prevent movement into Red.
Unable to Focus / Inability to Stay on Task
– Struggling to concentrate, mind wondering or obsessing on other things
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Thinking and Planning to Kill Yourself
IMMEDIATE HELP REQUIRED
– Have you thought about how you can do it, have you started to make plans, do you see it happening in your head?
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Crossing the Line of Acceptable CAF Behaviour
– You find yourself crossing that line of CAF ethics and values, and possibly yours as well
– You find yourself breaching CAF policies. If you are not crossing the line, look inside to see if you are justifying moving it
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.
Acting or Reacting to Sounds/Visual Cues That are not There
IMMEDIATE HELP REQUIRED
– Feeling like you constantly need to be looking around/scanning the area (possibly for a threat)
– Find yourself talking to people that aren’t there
– Find yourself reacting to sounds or smells that aren’t there
– You feel on edge or jumpy with no obvious threat
– You feel distracted by something that isn’t there, but you cant stop looking for it
COA: You are highly encouraged to seek assistance from a trained professional.