May Recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month
Since 1949, the United States has dubbed May as Mental Health Awareness Month. Today, the country has grown to show the importance of bringing light onto this topic with one in five adults being affected by mental illnesses and one in five youth ages 9-17 currently having a diagnosable mental health disorder. Which is an estimate of 60 million people in total and these are only diagnosed cases.
Furthermore, recent times filled with disappointing news broadcasted state-wide and recovering from a pandemic, focusing on improving the health of students, staff, parents, and everyone alike is dire.
Mental Health Awareness Month was created to encourage regular check-ins of personal well-being and raise awareness of how trauma impacts an individual’s or community’s wellness. These actions prevent mental health decline and celebrate recovery, as it is crucial to overall health. A variety of resources are provided across many human services and health platforms.
Many organizations dedicated to sustaining mental health have built their legacy. One was founded in 1909 known as the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, later as the National Mental Health Association (MHA), founded by Clifford Whittingham Beers. Since then, toolkits from MHA are released in March guiding people to prepare for May. When May arrives, different activities are held corresponding to the year’s theme. This year, the theme for MHA’s 2022 Mental Health Month Toolkit is “Back to Basics”. Symbolizing people’s steady retreat into casual living before the past 2 years of the pandemic.
As prevalent as symptoms are now, society has gained tremendous awareness of these struggles and lets each other know they are not alone through an influx of social media posts, events, mandatory check ups, advertisements, etc. The state of mental health influences how someone may live their life and behave, potentially affecting relationships with peers. Therefore, it is vital to have a month dedicated to highlighting how to understand symptoms and break harmful stereotypes.
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