Mental Health Awareness Month

The entire month of May is dedicated to raising awareness for people living with mental or behavioral health issues. Mental health has so much stigma surrounding it, and Mental Health Awareness month is striving to help eradicate some of that stigma.

“My family members have suffered from many different mental health issues, so my personal mental health has always been important to me.” FHS sophomore Sabrina Heldman said.

Mental health covers a broad spectrum of different issues people might be having. From behavioral health problems to addiction, the month of May is bringing a spotlight to all people struggling.

“I’m really happy that May is mental health awareness month because mental health plays a huge part in everyone’s lives, whether they realize it or not.” sophomore Mckenzie Milam said.

The first mental health awareness month was in 1949, and since then it has been a strong point for addressing challenges that millions of people around the world struggle with. Organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, are strongly encouraging people everywhere to get involved somehow, and even have a downloadable ‘toolkit’ outlining different ways you can help out in your community this coming May.

“Men especially have a lot of stigma in regards to their mental health, and are always told to just ‘man up’,” Sophomore Carlos Olvera says, “it’s really not healthy and causes many people, including me, to bottle up our emotions until we have big violent outbursts.”

So many people don’t fully understand the term ‘mental health’, and it’s one of the main problems that need to be fixed before we can fully get rid of the negative thoughts, emotions, and opinions when it comes to mental health. A way everyone can be a part of reducing stigma this May is by spreading information. Get educated on mental health, then educate others around you. Don’t shame people for their issues, either help in their path to recovery, or provide support whenever you can. Even something small can play a big part in someone’s mental health recovery.

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