May is Mental Health Awareness Month

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, mental illnesses affect 1 in 10 Americans.

Only 25% of them seek help due to:

• lack of insurance or funds to pay;
• the stigma attached to a mental illness;
• lack of support from friends and family;
• misunderstanding of mental illness as an eccentricity or part of the personality that doesn’t require treatment;
• fear of medication, hospitalization, or being committed.

How to Raise Awareness of Mental Health & Offer Support

If you or someone you know suffers from a mental illness, such as:

• bipolar disorder
• major depression
• chronic depression (dysthymia)
• anxiety or paranoia
• schizophrenia
• obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• etc,

it’s time to speak out and join the fight against stigma and support awareness.

…and what better time to do this than during Mental Health Month?

What Can You Do for Mental Health Month?

First, educate yourself. Here are some good resources:

PsychCentral.com

NAMI – National Alliance of Mental Illness

Suicide Prevention Lifeline

These are just a few of the sites that I visit on a regular basis for information and support.

Second, get involved. The above organizations need volunteers and donations.  Additionally, you can become involved in the mental health community online via social media.  Offer support to those dealing with mental illness in forums and learn about what it’s like to live with their condition.

You can also join the fight against stigma on Twitter and learn about mental health issues by joining the #MHSM Chat every Tuesday night at 9PM EST, hosted by @MHSMChat and @NAMIMass (the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness).

Third, visit the Mental Health America site for tool-kits on how to take action and get involved in one of the two themes for Mental Health Month:  Do More for 1 in 4 and Healing Trauma’s Invisible Wounds with a local MHA affiliate. Trough the affiliates, you can also find out about local events, local volunteer opportunities, and other ways you can support the mental health community in your area.

Fourth, blog and get social! If you have a blog, talk about mental illness.  Speak the truth.  Talk about your own experience or the experience of others.  Talk about stories about people who have succeeded despite their mental illness and have overcome.  Talk about the people who aren’t getting the help they need.  Share stories you find on Facebook, Twitter, and through email to your friends and families to educate them on this growing problem.  Share your knowledge, ask for opinions, get signatures on petitions to support the mental health community.  Do whatever you can to help.  Social media and blogging are powerful tools. The internet is an amazing marketing and advocacy tool that you can use almost anywhere.  Utilize it for the greater good.

My Plan for Mental Health Month

I’m actually not sure what I plan to do for Mental Health Awareness Month, but I have a few ideas.  I actually would like your opinion on this, so here it goes.  I can do one of the following:

• Blog about a different disorder throughout the month to help raise awareness, specifically discussing the stereotypes associated with those disorders;
• Share my own personal story of Postpartum Depression and Dysthymia (chronic depression);
• Talk about different mental health bloggers, reviewing their sites and interviewing them;
• Discuss celebrities with mental illness and focus on the positive outcomes;
• Something else?

So what do you think?

Question:  What should I do for Mental Health Month?  What are your plans to help raise awareness?