May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
Being healthy is about more than avoiding colds, exercising, and eating vegetables. Along with physical health, mental health plays a key role in your overall well-being.
Mental health includes your emotional, social, and psychological health. It also affects how you connect with others, what choices you make, how you handle stress, and how you generally feel overall.
Just as the body can become sick, the mind can as well, resulting in any number of forms of mental illness.
Almost one in five adults in the United States suffers from a mental illness, according to data from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
The CDC recognizes mental illness is a serious problem that can result in lost earnings, physical illness, hospitalization, and even death.
While genetics, trauma, and other circumstances play a major role in causing mental illness, the good news is that it most conditions are treatable and it’s possible to take steps to improve your mental health before an issue occurs.
Nobody is immune to a mental health issue such as bipolar disorder. With proper treatment, it is highly manageable and many famous people with bipolar have proven it’s possible to live with it and still find great success.
Mental health awareness, including what it is, how to safeguard it, and acknowledgment and prevention of mental illnesses can help prevent mental illness and support the timely treatment of it.
In fact, the month of May is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month.
What Is Mental Health Awareness Month in May?
Mental Health Awareness Month in May is dedicated to raising awareness of the various types of mental health, symptoms, and treatment options.
Even though so many people suffer from a mental illness, many may not seek treatment because they don’t recognize the pain they are experiencing has a name and treatment options.
Unfortunately, some people resort to poor coping techniques such as self-harm or using substances like drugs or alcohol as a coping technique. This can lead to a combination of mental illness and addiction together, which requires dual diagnosis treatment for recovery.
Even when people do seek help for a mental illness, those around them may not be as supportive as they should be, because they do not understand that many mental health conditions are common and treatable.
Mental Health Awareness Month was established in 1949 to increase the awareness of the importance of mental health in our lives.
The Goal of Mental Health Awareness Month in May is to:
- End the stigma about mental illness
- Advocate for policies that support people with mental illness
- Educate the public about mental health
- Encourage people to protect their mental health and seek treatment when needed
- Tell people who live with mental health conditions that they are not alone
- Celebrate those who have or currently live with mental illness
Everyone can find ways to learn more about mental health and how it impacts all of us.
There are plenty of movies about bipolar, depression, PTSD, and others to become familiar with how mental illness can take a toll when left untreated.
Types of Mental Health Disorders
Mental illnesses are serious health conditions that impact the overall well-being and day-to-day lives of millions of people and their families in many different ways.
“Mental illness” is a blanket term that describes a wide variety of disorders and conditions that affect the way we feel.
The Most Common Types of Mental Health Disorders Include:
- Anxiety Disorders
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Bipolar Disorder
- Depression
- Eating Disorders
- Personality Disorders like Borderline Personality
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders
- Substance Use Disorders
Mental Health Treatment
Mental illness can have very serious consequences, and that’s why mental health awareness month is so important.
The biggest reason to increase awareness of this topic is to let people know that mental health issues can be treated and managed successfully.
If you or a loved one is suffering from depression, eating disorders, PTSD, or any other type of mental health disorder, there is help and hope for recovery.
Mental Health Treatment Can Include:
- Individual Therapy
- Group Therapy
- Medication Management
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapies
- Art Therapy
- Spirituality Practices
- Mindfulness and Meditation
- Music Therapy
- Equine Therapy
There are so many options available to treat the symptoms and root causes of a person’s mental health issues. Summit Malibu provides a variety of treatment options to promote healing and recovery for mental health and addiction.
There’s no reason for anyone to struggle with mental illness when there are so many resources available for treatment.
Mental Health Awareness Month in May offers the perfect opportunity to learn more about the various conditions and treatment appraoches that are available.
It’s also an ideal time for you or someone you care about to see a doctor or therapist about a personal mental health checkup.
