Instant Genius Why connecting with others is vital for our mental health
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Feb 27, 2026 Dr Joanna Cheek, psychiatrist, psychotherapist and UBC clinical professor and author, explores how modern stressors trigger our brain’s alarm systems. She discusses the jar model of vulnerability, emotions as adaptive alarms, the need for collective care alongside self-care, and practical strategies to rebalance threat and reward and strengthen connection.
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Mental Health Symptoms Are Alarm Signals
- Mental distress often functions as an alarm system signaling environmental stresses filling a metaphorical risk jar.
- Joanna Cheek uses J9 Austin's jar model: genetics set starting risk and life stressors (racism, poverty, bullying, COVID) add balls until symptoms overflow.
Mix Treatments And Strengthen Connection
- To restore balance either remove stressors or raise resilience using mixed strategies.
- Cheek recommends therapy, medication, exercise, meditation and especially increased social connection and collective action to reduce jar-filling stressors.
Hard Emotions Are Useful Feedback
- Emotions like shame, guilt, grief and low mood are purposeful feedback mechanisms, not just problems to eliminate.
- Cheek compares them to a smoke alarm: they're set to false-alarm often so we pause, assess, and decide appropriate action.
