Mental Health Week 2025: Unmasking mental health

In the Veteran and Family community it is common to hear expressions like, “I wish I had known,” or “I felt so alone.” Many Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Veterans carry pain silently, putting up shields against the potential judgment of others. Veteran Family members often do the same in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. This year’s Mental Health Week theme is “Unmasking mental health,” encouraging open and honest conversations about mental health challenges across Canada. Living behind this “mask” of appearing okay often makes things more difficult.

At the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families, we are committed to “unmasking mental health” by listening and responding to the lived experiences of Veterans and Veteran Family members. Our goal is for the community to move from isolation to feeling validated, heard and supported instead. We encourage the Veteran and Family community to embrace this year’s theme. Your vulnerability in sharing with one another could be the key to helping a loved one or a friend and the first step towards healing yourself.

We invite you to check out some of the resources we’ve co-created with CAF and RCMP Veterans, Families and the mental health professionals who support them. In these resources, you will discover that you are not alone in the challenges you may face. You have a community of support standing strong beside you.

Mental health resources for Veterans and Families

Moral injury: Moral injury is a specific type of psychological injury caused by the impact of events or acts that a person performs, witnesses or fails to prevent, which conflict with their own deeply held moral beliefs and values. Moral injury can affect both Veterans and their Families. This page explains moral injury, what can cause it, how it may impact you and tools and strategies for coping with moral injury.

Posttraumatic stress disorder: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can affect both your mental and your physical health as a result of being exposed in some way to death or potential death, serious physical injury or sexual assault, directed at you or at someone else. It is diagnosed based on specific signs, symptoms and behaviours. This page explores potential causes, symptoms and potential treatments.

Parenting with posttraumatic stress injury: These resources were co-created with Veterans and Family members living with posttraumatic stress injury (PTSI) to help navigate conversations with your child about what you may be experiencing.

MindKit: MindKit was created for and by young Family members of Canadian Veterans living with a PTSI to help explain PTSI, provide tips and strategies to help navigate challenging situations and share personal stories from other youth.

Suicide prevention: Find resources to help Veterans and Veteran Family members care for loved ones who may be thinking about suicide — and for themselves, including two toolkits for suicide prevention and conversation guide.

Traumatic brain injury: A traumatic brain injury (TBI) happens when the brain is injured after a sudden impact, jolt, bump or blow to the head or body, including concussions and repeated impacts. This page offers information about TBI for Veterans and Families, including potential causes of TBI, quick facts about brain injuries and resources.