May is Mental Health Month

Do you know when Mental Health Month is? In the United States, May is a nationally recognized time to raise awareness of mental health conditions in our nation. What is Mental Health Month exactly? When most people think of health, they think of diet, exercise, disease, and other physical signs of a healthy body. In 2023, about 58.7 million Americans, nearly 1 in 4 adults aged 18 or older, suffered from some type of mental illness.  However, many still fail to recognize the importance of mental health when it comes to our overall well-being. Because of this, Mental Health Month draws attention to the aspects of mental wellness that are too often overlooked.

History

In 1949 the National Association for Mental Health (Mental Health America) established National Mental Health Awareness Month. What began as only a week of observance to shed light on the prevalence of mental illness would eventually expand into a nationally recognized month of education and advocacy.

During May, various mental health organizations seek to accomplish these goals through screenings, community events, workshops, fundraisers, counseling, social media campaigns, and more. All of the activities center around a core theme. Some of the past themes from recent years include:

• Pathways to Wellness (2013) focused on practical strategies for overall mental and physical well-being.
• Mind Your Health (2014) emphasized the association between mind and body while advocating for widespread awareness of mental and physical health among individuals and the public.
• B4Stage4 (2015) addressed the importance of the early detection of mental health issues, knowing the warning signs, discovering possible underlying diseases, and creating an action plan to achieve wellness.
• Mental Illness Feels Like (2016), primarily driven by a social media campaign, sought to promote awareness and understanding while eliminating stigmas surrounding mental health. Individuals were encouraged to share what living with a mental illness feels like by posting on social media and using the hashtag #mentalillnessfeelslike.
• Risky Business (2017) sought to educate the general public about short-term behaviors and long-term habits that can harm one’s mental health. Prescription drug misuse, unsafe sexual activities, marijuana (THC) use, gambling, excessive spending, social media addiction, binge drinking, and other risky behaviors may increase the likelihood of developing a mental illness, make one worse, or signify physical and mental health problems themselves.
• Fitness #4Mind4Body (2018) focused on what individuals can do to be “fit for our own futures.” It placed particular emphasis on starting where you are at, no matter what stage of wellness or life you are in, and recognizing the early warning signs before a mental illness reaches “Stage 4.”

Mental Health America describes the concept of Stage 4 in this way:

“When we think about cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, we don’t wait years to treat them. We start way before Stage 4. We begin with prevention. And when people are in the first stage of those diseases and have a persistent cough, high blood pressure, or high blood sugar, we try immediately to reverse these symptoms. This is what we should be doing when people have serious mental illnesses, too. When they first begin to experience symptoms such as loss of sleep, feeling tired for no reason, feeling low, feeling anxious, or hearing voices, we should act.”

That campaign encouraged others to share what they are doing for their own physical and mental fitness by sharing their progress on social media using the hashtag #4Mind4Body. The toolkit from Mental Health America, which individuals, groups, and organizations can utilize, includes:

• Multiple fact sheets on how diet and nutrition, sleep, stress, gut health, and exercise affect mental health.
• Worksheets on making life changes.
• It included a promotional poster with examples of social media posts, including images and web banners.
• It also had a sample press release, a drop-in article, and
• A sample proclamation for public officials to recognize May is Mental Health Month and the work of local mental health advocates.

How Can I Get Involved?

Overall, Mental Health Month is an excellent time for deeper reflection and discussion of these issues. There are a wide variety of ways to get involved in raising awareness and promoting mental health!

Care For Yourself

Firstly, take some time to assess and strengthen your own mental health. This can be done through screenings, self-care, or education. While most people are inclined to give and help others, you can’t pour from an empty cup! Focus on yourself first by filling your mind and body with what you need to be healthy.

Reach Out To Your Community

Talk with your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors about mental health. Downloading this year’s Mental Health Month toolkit is a great way to gain access to helpful activities and resources to raise awareness and promote well-being. Also, involve your faith community, local schools, community clubs, organizations, or other groups in your neighborhood to partner in raising awareness, support, and recovery resources for those who are experiencing a mental health crisis. You can also connect with local businesses to raise funds and support organizations that are already serving those with mental health disorders.

Advocate

Encourage your local government and community leaders to publicly recognize National Mental Health Awareness Month. Ask them to “Go Green” to show support and raise awareness for mental health, as green is the color of the awareness ribbon. You can also take action on advocacy issues and lobby for policy change. Policy changes are one of the primary ways that individuals can make a difference in the lives of people living with mental health conditions, as well as their families and communities.

Be Creative

NAMI also offers other creative suggestions on how to get involved with Mental Health Month, such as:

Handing out ribbons

Hand out or sell green ribbons for people to wear. Invite stores to hang them in the windows, trees, light posts, columns, and other public spaces.

Creating a book display

Ask the local bookstore to feature books about mental health or have an author come in and sign copies.

Sharing information

Ask about adding mental health awareness brochures, fact sheets, and infographics to your local coffee house’s events and information boards.

Hosting an event

Local businesses, such as coffee shops, bookstores, or restaurants, often reserve time and space for members of the public to put on an art exhibit, play, poetry reading, or concert. Create one featuring material about mental health or artists with connections to it.

Kids and Mental Health

At All For Kids, we are especially concerned with advocating for the mental health of children and young adults. Fortunately, in recent years, this topic has gained increased attention. Research has shown that 1 in 5 children ages 13-18 have, or will have, a severe mental illness before they reach adulthood. Of these children:

• 11% are mood disorders.
• 10% are behavior or conduct disorders.
• 8% are anxiety disorders.

The prevalence of mental illness among our youth is widespread, and its consequences also have the potential to be long-lasting. 50% of all lifetime mental illnesses are diagnosed by the age of 14, and 75% by age 24. Approximately 50% of students age 14 and older with a mental illness drop out of high school, and 70% of youth in state and local juvenile justice systems have a mental illness. Additionally, while suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth ages 15 to 24, a striking 90% of those who died by suicide had underlying mental illnesses.

Know the Signs

Unfortunately, the average delay between onset of symptoms and intervention is 8-10 years, so mental illnesses among children often go undetected until it is too late. However, learning how to recognize the signs of an emerging mental health condition or crisis can make the difference between life and death for the youth around us.

NAMI, The National Alliance on Mental Illness, published some of the most common warning signs among children and youth. These include, but are not limited to:

• Severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships.
• Repeated use of drugs or alcohol.
• Drastic changes in behavior, personality, or sleeping habits (e.g., waking up early and acting agitated).
• Extreme difficulty in concentrating or staying still may lead to failure in school.
• Intense worries or fears that get in the way of daily activities like hanging out with friends or going to classes.
• Trying to harm or kill oneself or making plans to do so.
• Out-of-control, risk-taking behaviors that cause harm to self or others.
• Sudden overwhelming fear for no reason, sometimes with a racing heart, physical discomfort, or fast breathing.
• Not eating, throwing up, using laxatives, and losing weight are significant weight loss or gain.
• Feeling very sad or withdrawn for more than two weeks (e.g., crying regularly, feeling fatigued, feeling unmotivated).

What Can Parents Do to Help Their Kids?

NAMI also encourages parents and other involved adults to seek help right away if they suspect that a child or teenager they love may be experiencing an urgent mental health crisis. It is important to do something, whether seeking emergency services, talking to your child’s pediatrician, obtaining a referral to a mental health specialist, working with your teenager’s school, implementing breathing exercises for kids, or connecting with other families experiencing similar situations. However, whether you believe that your child is developing a mental illness or not, it is so important to talk to them about mental health. Ensure your children and teens know they can speak to you about anything, nothing, and everything. They need to know that they can come to you if they feel that their mental health is suffering. Be present, be involved, be available.

How Can All For Kids Help?

We are geared toward helping young children and their families find ways to decrease potential outbursts and violence in the home and to meet their mental health needs. We provide a wide range of counseling for kids and child behavioral health services, including:

• a comprehensive assessment
• child abuse therapy
• family-focused therapy
• individual counseling
• group therapy

Our counseling center offers intensive day treatment for young children, medication management, case management assistance, therapeutic behavioral health services, and assistance to the significant caretakers and support person(s) in the child’s life.

Our counseling for children is culturally sensitive, with a substantial focus on the Latino community. All treatment is customized to meet the specific needs of both the child and their family, so services are provided in the home, school, office, or community. Overall, All For Kids’ therapists utilize a family system approach that engages the caregiver as a partner in problem-solving.

Overall, if we understand the prevalence of mental illness and learn to recognize the warning signs, we can work together to implement an action plan for wellness before Stage 4. By uniting community members, organizations, businesses, churches, neighbors, schools, families, and friends, Mental Health Month can continue effectively bringing light to mental health conditions.

This May, you are making a difference, whether putting up green ribbons, hosting a bake sale, writing letters to your assembly members, or sitting down and talking with your family at the dinner table.