News & Information

Mental Health Awareness Month

In this day and age, it seems like every month is not just a month anymore. January is no longer just January or the first month of the calendar year; it’s Cervical Health Awareness Month. But, it is also National Stalking Awareness Month, Thyroid Awareness Month, National Birth Defects Prevention Month as well as a number of other awareness topics.

Have you ever asked why that is? Or better yet, have you ever said or thought “That doesn’t affect me.” and then moved on and forget about it? If your answer is yes, then I have a month for you: May. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Why is this for you? Because everyone has mental health. EVERYONE.

A common misconception about mental health is that it only means a mental health illness or diagnosis; but it is so much more than that. In addition to a mental health illness/diagnosis, a person’s mental health is made up of their living environment, their work or volunteer work, their physical health, their social supports, and the community they live in.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services defines mental health as being one’s emotional, psychological, and social well-being. A person’s mental health affects how you think, how you feel and how you act. It determines how we handle stress, how we relate to other people, and it influences the choices we make. Mental health is important for everyone at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Not convinced mental health should be important to you? How about the people around you? Chances are there is someone in your life, maybe a loved one, who has a mental illness or may be struggling with their mental health right now. Mental illness is so common that it affects one in four people- this makes it as common as iPhone customers!

Many people live with symptoms of a mental illness for years before seeking treatment. This is largely due to stigma. It’s okay to have a mental illness, many of us do. The sooner people get treatment, the greater their chances are of recovery. Awareness helps us to talk about it and talking about it helps to remove the stigma. Stop the silence- Make It OK! Check out makeitok.org to learn more about stigma and what you can do to help remove it.

This May, and every day before that and every day after that, I ask that you do your part in sharing the awareness. Don’t let mental health awareness begin and end with the month of May. Instead, let’s have May be May again and have mental health awareness be our everyday.

For resources or to do a provider search in Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and/or Wright county, please check out www.mnmentalhealth.org .

Bethany Oberg – CAMHI Coordinator

References

Make It OK. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://makeitok.org/

What is mental health. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health/