Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health Awareness Month

People may not know it, but the month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Organizations such as The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is an example of an organization that supports individuals who struggle with mental health-related problems. 

It’s important that individuals understand that they aren’t alone when it comes to the struggles of mental illness. NAMI advocates for and provides resources to individuals with a mental illness. NAMI has been advocating for and is responsible for the promotion of mental health awareness since 1979. A lot has changed since the organization's beginnings. They have shifted towards promoting mental health awareness through social media channels. 

Recently, NAMI have launched a social media campaign with hashtags such as #MentalHealthMonth and #StigmaFree to help promote the discussions of topics surrounding mental illness. The more that people become aware of mental illness and discuss it, the more likely it is that the stigma surrounding mental illness will be eliminated. According to NAMI, stigma is the bad connotation that people have attached to an individual with a mental illness. Stigma causes individuals with mental illness to feel rejected, bullied, and discriminated against. 

Organizations, such as NAMI, help promote conversations around mental illness to be positive and supportive. One way that you can help end stigma and shed a positive light on those affected by mental illness and take part in mental health awareness month is by taking the StigmaFree Pledge
created by NAMI. Taking the StigmaFree pledge shows your support to ending stigma and encourages organizations, like NAMI, to continue their efforts fighting the stigma around mental illness.

Click HERE and Take the Pledge!

For more on Mental Health Awareness Month, click HERE

Written by Kirk Wood

Source

NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2018, from https://www.nami.org/