May is Mental Health Awareness Month!
May is for Mental Health Awareness, which means a whole month with the focus of trying to reduce stigma and provide resources for mental health! For someone, struggling with mental health is not entirely different from one struggling with physical health; both issues can be disruptive, distressing, and impact one’s daily functioning in one way or another. There is no negative judgment for someone with a broken leg seeking assistance from a doctor and getting treatment because it is a visible ailment, but a surprising number of grown adults today would be offended and defensive if a professional were to suggest some form of mental health issue or recommend mental health treatment in any capacity. Mental health issues, for some individuals and cultures, either do not exist, can be managed on one’s own, or are just categorized as being “crazy.” Whether one chooses to believe it or not, everyone deals with anxiety, emotions, and stress at some end of the spectrum, some (really anyone) may just may benefit from assistance.
Challenging Stigma
The idea of having a diagnosed mental health issue is distressing in itself for many but mental health issues can affect anyone no matter their age, race, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Statistics consistently show that 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience a mental health disorder each year, 1 in 20 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness, and 17% of youth experience a mental health disorder. Over half of people don’t receive treatment and many won’t seek treatment due to stigma and beliefs that needing treatment means that they are “broken”, “less than”, or will lose independence and pride if they were to accept help (either counseling or medication). About 10% of those not in treatment won’t seek or receive treatment because they don’t have health insurance.
Mental health treatment can come in many forms at many different levels of care: medication management, a mental health coach, intensive or non-intensive outpatient therapy, in-home counseling, group counseling, family and marriage counseling, partial hospitalization programs, and more! You can talk with your primary care physician for guidance and referrals. For higher, more intensive, levels of care you would need to be at a certain level of severity, otherwise, anyone can benefit from coaching and counseling with certified and licensed professionals! Do you dread work? Have difficulty with starting and completing tasks? Or feel too wound up to sleep? Did you just move and now you feel anxious and like you don’t have support? Talking to a mental health professional can be helpful for individuals, couples, and families at any stage of life coming from any background for any reason!
Resources
For assistance with locating mental health treatment, you can speak with a doctor you trust for first steps, seek counseling with Peninsula Child and Family Services today for outpatient services and local recommendations for extra support, and/or check out the following resources below!
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) - https://www.nami.org/home
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) - https://www.nimh.nih.gov/
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) - https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
National Mental Health Crisis Line – 988
Texting Crisis Line – Text HOME to 741741
National Crisis Line – 1-800-273-8255
- Ciera Canaday, LCSW
Clinical Director and Psychotherapist