Mental Health Awareness Day
Today is Mental Health Awareness Day. 1 in 5 adults in America experience a mental illness and nearly 1 in 25 live with a serious mental illness. However, there is still a significant stigma toward mental illness in our society. We’re not supposed to talk about it. People experiencing mental health conditions often face rejection, bullying, and discrimination. I myself have experienced this before. This stigma can prevent people from reaching out for help and can sometimes have fatal results; Suicide is the second leading cause of death of youth ages 15-24 and the tenth leading cause of death for all Americans.
I live with depression and ADHD (and probably a bit of undiagnosed anxiety, tbh). Though these conditions are mostly controlled, they have had a huge impact on my life in the past and continue to do so now. They’re part of me, and I’ve chosen to embrace them and talk about them openly to help combat that stigma and help others. I’m happy to talk about these things and if you ever need someone to talk to, please reach out!
Resources:
The World Health Organization also has a great video series on what you can do to help prevent suicide.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness has a whole page on fighting stigma and helping those with mental illness; I highly suggest you read it.
NAMI also has a whole bunch of initiative and guides on their Mental Illness Awareness week page.
https://www.nami.org/get-involved/awareness-events/mental-illness-awareness-week