Happy Mental Health Awareness Month!!
1 in 5 adults experience Mental Illness each year, which is approximately 52.9 million people (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)). This Statistic is aimed to help people realize that they are not alone, as is Mental Health Awareness Month. In May, we aim to help those effected by mental Illness and to let them to know they are not alone, by breaking down the stigma behind mental health and providing people with knowledge about it.
We break down stigma by talking about mental health openly and with respect. May provides us a month set aside to be able to do this. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the largest non-for-profit organization for mental health, provides people with free educational classes and support groups for those with mental illness or who have a loved one effected by mental illness. NAMI fights to break down stigma behind mental health through advocating. As an active member of NAMI, for the past 12 years, I have watched them first hand change countless lives. Their information will be posted at the bottom of this post as well. Another way of breaking down stigma is through counseling. Counseling provides people with an open and safe place to process whatever they need. Counseling can be lifechanging in times of crisis or even to just have a third party, unbiased person to talk to about the day to day stressors. I am in my practice to provide clients with this open and safe place where we can process together and to help you know every step along the way that you are not alone.
Mental health should be talked about as often, and with as much importance, as any other health diagnosis. Mental illness holds a physical, social and financial ripple effect. Physically, for instance, rates of cardiometabolic disease are twice as high in adults with serious mental illness (NAMI). People with serious mental illness have an increased risk for chronic disease, like diabetes or cancer. Mental illness effects people psychically just as much as mentally. For instance, anxiety often manifests first psychically throughout the body. Examples of psychical symptoms of anxiety may be hand shaking, fidgeting, hard to breath, tightening off chest and getting hot. All these symptoms are warning signs of the body telling you it is getting anxious, which then also holds ripple effects long term. More effects of Mental Illness in individuals, damages, community and the world are posted here: https://www.nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/Infographics/NAMI_Impact_RippleEffect_2020_FINAL.pdf
Every single person has mental health. Mental health is your general state of well-being and state of mind. It is when something disrupts your mental state and interrupts how one feels, thinks, communicates, and behaves that it becomes mental illness. Mental health effects everyone, and it is up to us to look after our mental health and check in on it, and each other, every day. In my blog posts and videos throughout May, I will explore different ways one can do this.
Each month millions are living with mental illness. During May, is when a national movement starts to help raise more awareness and fight the stigma behind mental illness. This exists though providing support to those in need (including our loved ones and ourselves) through sharing our stories, sharing policies and changes happening, providing counseling, groups, classes and other resources, and educating the public on mental illness.
During this month, lets come together to share our experiences and stories to help educate one another, connect, raise awareness and break down the stigma behind mental illness.
Let me know what Mental Health Awareness Month means to you!
Feel free to message me at brianna@renew-counseling.org or my number 407-479-8813 if you have any questions about mental health, counseling in general or would like to set up a session.
NAMI Greater Orlando:
Phone: (407) 253-1900 (not a crisis line)
Email Address: information@namigo.org
Crisis Line:
NAMI’s National Information Helpline (800) 950-NAMI
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800)-273-TALK