The History of Mental Health Awareness Month
Mental Health Awareness Month was first celebrated in 1949 and every year after that. It was originally organized by the Mental Health America organization that later became known today as National Mental Health Association.
A man named Clifford Whittingham-Beers from Connecticut, who was born in the year 1876 to a family of 5 children who all suffered from mental illness and psychological distress. They all went on through life spending time in mental institutions and admitted to hospitals year after year.
Beers went on later in his life as an all time author of today’s best selling book “A Mind That Found Itself.” This book has gained popularity and an obscene amount of support from medical professionals today.
He also discovered that the mental health field had a notorious reputation for malpractice, maltreatment and immense bias.
Today we celebrate May as Mental Health Awareness Month
Where we can come together and honor the suffering and the silent.
Advocates all around will help educate others on mental health by blogging, Tik-Toks and other social media platforms to help decrease the stigma on mental health issues in today’s world.
Facts & Figures
Here is some helpful information about mental health and substance use in America:
- “1 in 5 adults (52.9 million adults) in the U.S. experienced mental illness in 2020.
- 40.3 million people aged 12 or over had a substance use disorder in 2020.
- 32.1% of U.S. adults with mental illness also experienced a substance use disorder in 2020.
- Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people aged 10-34.
- 1 in 3 young adults (aged 18-25) in the U.S. experienced mental
illness in 2020. - 1 in 6 adolescents (aged 12-17) in the U.S. experienced a major depressive episode in 2020.
- 54% of adults with mental illness did not receive treatment in 2020.
- The average delay between symptom onset and treatment for mental illness is 11 years.
- 22.3 million Americans live in recovery after some form of substance use disorder.
- 3 out of 4 people who experience addiction eventually recover.
Cited from: National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Adding Leafy greens to your diet could help your brain
Greens will boost brain health and researchers have identified these foods such as Kale, Spinach, and Romain to help fight brain disease and depression.
What people don’t realize is that consuming leafy greens on a regular based diet can actually help people recover faster from mental fatigue and overall stress.
Going green can also help us be more connected to nature and stimulate positive emotions to help us result in a happier overall mood.
Mental Health is essential for our everyday living.
There are many things we can do to maintain good mental health and avoid being diagnosed with a mental illness.
One way to do this is to shift our mind set.
Start by eating healthy and focus on the same way when it comes to our physical health.
When our bodies are in overcharge we can get sick, when our bodies are sick, we are at a higher risk of developing disease and redirecting our thoughts into negative actions such as substance abuse.
We can all do our part this month and beyond to look after our own mental health and wellbeing.
Try something new
● Gardening
● Journaling and poetry
● Yoga/Tai Chi
● Walking
● Food diary
Prioritize yourself and your needs. Give yourself a challenge and set a goal, there is no reason to focus on the finish line.
Steady and slow will always win the race, this month we CELEBRATE YOU!
MAY IS FOR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS
This post was written by Lauren K., and published by Convenient Counseling Services.
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