May is the official Mental Health Awareness Month.
I recorded a short (11 minutes) audio to talk about mental health month and what you can do to help support and promote awareness.
If you can’t (or don’t want to) listen to the above audio, I’ve written out some of the most important take-away’s to share.
It’s a perfect time to start spreading the word, start talking, start educating, start seeking help you need for your mental health, your mental illness, your friends and family and loved ones. For those suffering and need help.
Mental illness affects 1 in 4 adults. Think about that. If you know 4 people, at least 1 of them have some sort of mental illness. That number is staggering.
There are a lot of people not receiving help. It’s too expensive, it’s too hard to find, the mental illness is too consuming and they can’t get out of bed to find support. If you know someone like that, someone you can see if suffering but you know they are not seeing a doctor or getting therapy or being proactive, those are the kind of people that need your help. Those are the kind of people I want to help.
I’ve been there. About a year and a half ago, a combination of pre existing depression, panic disorder, a newborn and ppd. I could barely function and I fought against getting help.I thought it would never work so what was the point? Because I was wrong. The most important part of my recovery was that I had support, I had people saying hey you need help, let me make the phone call for you.
If you know someone who seems to have a mental illnesses, someone who has spoken out to you and said, this is hard. Be the friend who says, I see that you are suffering, let me help you. Let me call the doctor, let me take you to the doctor, I will drive you and sit with you.
Be the person who fights against the bullying and the stigma. Tell your friends it sucks to feel this way but it doesn’t make you a bad person.
People with mental illness deserve more love, more support. If we could get as much love and support as possible, if we all had the care that we needed instead of bullying and negative comments and lack of support…all of those things hinder the process. It doesn’t make it easier to ask for help.
That’s why I do what I do. People don’t see others talking out. It’s hard, it’s scary to admit you have a mental illness and need help but it’s an essential to the process of recovery.
What can you do?
-Wear green, make your social media green. Green is the color we use to promote awareness this month.
-Donate time or money.
-Donate to The Balanced Mind
Here is a list of a ton of mental health charities,
Go on gofundme (or similar) and donate some money to causes about mental illness.
–Write a blog post about mental health and awareness. If you have a mental illness and haven’t ever shared it. Be brave and share it. Maybe you say, I need help, I am getting help, I’m in recovery, I’m hitting rock bottom. Just get up there and be honest and truthful.
Here are some blog posts of mine you should check out:
What To Do When a Loved One Has a Mental Illness * I Think I Have a Mental Illness Free Guide * Why I Blog About Mental Health * The Importance of Honoring The Self and Taking Time for Wellness * When Getting Healthy Doesn’t Look Like How the Experts Say You “Should” Do It * Why It’s Important to Determine Your Personal Triggers and How to Get Started * Your Story Is Important, Too * Don’t Forget to Look For The Positives In All Situations
The point to hit home, the big takeaway this month is: Talk about it. Be positive, be supportive. Let’s bring this to the forefront of people’s minds. Let’s start talking.
Share: What are you doing to spread awareness about mental health? Do you or one of your loved ones have a mental illness? If you have a blog or wrote about your mental health, share links in the comments below.
