Despite outreach campaigns, changes in insurance law, and increasing public awareness of mental health issues, mental health concerns remain stigmatized. This stigmatization can be seen on television when the “mentally ill” are treated as a distant population, and in real life when people who struggle with mental health challenges are too embarrassed to seek treatment. This May’s Mental Health Awareness Month aims to change that.
Mental Health Matters
Mental health isn’t a distant concern that people you don’t know face. Instead, almost everyone knows someone with a mental health challenge. About a quarter of all adults experience a mental health condition every year, with mood and anxiety challenges among the most common mental health issues. People with mental health concerns sometimes feel labeled and even bullied, and the media is quick to blame them for violent events. The reality, though, is that people with mental health concerns are more likely to be crime victims than perpetrators.
Mental Health Awareness Events
Mental Health America has been the organizer of Mental Health Awareness Month for more than six decades, and this year the organization is spotlighting the connection between mental and physical health. MHA will be publishing an assortment of fact sheets providing information on common mental health concerns.
From May 4 through 10, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration spotlights children’s mental health. SAMHSA encourages young social media users to get in on the action by discussing mental health support using the hashtag #Igetsupportfrom.GoodTherapy.org’s Blogging Event
GoodTherapy.org is committed to highlighting mental health challenges and helping our readers find the help they need and deserve. We’ll be listing blog posts from our readers about mental health all month. All you need to do is post an entry about any mental health topic to your blog during the month of May. Then tweet us at @good_therapy using the hash tag #mentalhealthmatters, or email us at mentalhealthmatters@goodtherapy.org. Find more details here.
Almost everyone knows someone who struggles with mental health concerns, and GoodTherapy.org hopes to use this month to highlight the struggles common to people who deal with mental health challenges.
If you’re interested in beginning therapy and finding a compatible therapist, you can look on the GoodTherapy.org therapist directory for mental health professionals in your area. Click here to begin your search. Don’t forget to specify which issue(s) you’d like help with!
References:
- May is Mental Health Month. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/may
- The numbers count: Mental disorders in America. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml
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