Mental Health Awareness Month

by 26Health Staff

Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month?

              May could not have come at a better time this year.  While we are all learning to live a new “normal” and preparing for what our future will look like, here comes May.  While this month also houses Nurses’ and Teachers’ Week, mental health awareness is so incredibly important during this pandemic. 

               In honor of this month, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has released the campaign, “You Are Not Alone” to help educate, inspire, and reduce the stigma of mental illness.  Their approach includes offering resources, encouraging everyone to share their personal stories, and offering free digital tools with surprising data regarding the prevalence of mental illness.  See https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Health-Month for more specific information regarding NAMI’s efforts and free resources.

               The National Council for Behavioral Health (NCBH) is also providing multiple resources regarding mental health.  Their website offers multiple digital images that can be used to share on social media, again to increase awareness and decrease stigma. 

So many people suffer from mental illness or will experience a mental illness in their lifetime, but they often feel alone or judged. With your help in sharing information and graphics, the efforts of these organizations to increase awareness and understanding while also reducing stigma can be greatly increased!

In addition to education and providing resources on websites and social media, other endeavors are having impacts on mental health awareness. 

• The Blue Dove Foundation is offering virtual events https://thebluedovefoundation.org/mhwmevents/throughout the month. 
• The Still I Run community is a group who runs for mental health awareness and in May they have an event, the Still I Run May Run Streak, which offers various levels of involvement for those interested.  For as little as $5 you can be part of this fundraiser and support the spread of awareness.   https://www.stilliruncommunity.com/

Here at 26Health, we kicked off DAILY support groups in April. 

Each weekday we offer up to 3 DIFFERENT hour-long sessions lead by our staff. 

Topics include Stress Management, Mindfulness, Coping with COVID- 19, Recovery (think AA, NA) focused, and more.  The goal is to reach the community when it’s needed most and make it easily accessible. 

Some sessions are in Spanish. 

DID I MENTION THEY’RE FREE??? Please see our website for the links to these sessions and join us, even anonymously, for any or all!