May is observed as Mental Health Month. The goal of having an entire month devoted to mental health is to bring awareness to mental health issues, build understanding of mental health conditions, connect with the community, provide support to those in need, reduce stigma, and to get people talking.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has created the You Are Not Alone? campaign. This campaign shares experiences of community members with mental illness in an effort to fight stigma, inspire, and educate the public. To participate, you can share your story with others on the NAMI website.
Mental Health America (MHA) has created the Tools2Thrive campaign for Mental Health Month. This campaign offers practical tools that anyone can use to improve mental health and increase resiliency. Mental Health America wants to emphasize that everyone should care about mental health. The MHA website offers numerous resources to improve mental health. Some of the handouts and worksheets offered are: Owning Your Feelings, Finding the Positive, Creating Healthy Routines, and Detoxing Your Life. The MHA website also offers online screenings for various mental health conditions at the following link.
Peace River Center (PRC) is offering several virtual sessions in May. What is Mental Health Recovery will be on May 20 at 2pm. What is Community Behavioral Health will be on May 28 at 1pm. Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) will be held May 29 at 10am. Those who want to attend these free virtual sessions can register at the following link.
There are numerous activities you can participate in to support Mental Health Month. Take the 31 day mental health challenge found at this link. You can share infographs from the various mental health organizations, use Mental Health Month hashtags, start a conversation with someone, give back to the community, take an online screening, watch a webinar, and so much more.
It’s so common, it could be anyone. The trouble is, nobody wants to talk about it. And that makes everything worse. –Ruby Wax
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