May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental illness. May is a time to raise awareness of those living with mental or behavioral health issues and to help reduce the stigma so many experience.

Mental health is essential to everyone’s overall health and well-being, and mental illnesses are common and
treatable. While 1 in 5 people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound impacts on the mental health of people of all ages, and now more than ever it is critical to reduce the stigma around mental health struggles that commonly prevents individuals from seeking help.

There are practical tools that everyone can use to improve their mental health and increase resiliency, regardless of the situations they are dealing with. It’s important to accept the situations in life that we cannot change, actively work to process the mental struggles associated with big changes, manage anger and frustration, recognize when trauma may be affecting your mental health, challenge negative thinking patterns, and make time to take care of yourself.

Knowing when to turn to friends, family, and co-workers when you are struggling with life’s challenges can help improve your mental health. One way to check in with yourself is to take a mental health screen at MHAscreening.org. It’s a quick, free, and private way for someone to assess their mental health and recognize signs of mental health problems.

Living a healthy lifestyle and incorporating mental health tools to thrive may not be easy but can be achieved by gradually making small changes and building on those successes. Seeking professional help when self-help efforts to improve your mental health aren’t working is a sign of strength, not weakness.

The tools that work best for one person may not work for another. Recovery is a unique and personal journey that requires trial and error to determine what works best for each individual.

Source: Mental Health America