- Anxiety
- Depression
- Bipolar Disorder
- Suicidal Thoughts
- Panic Attacks
This is just a sample of a much larger group of disorders and conditions of mental health. The most important is awareness. As you know May is Mental Health Awareness month. A time to learn and understand about what you and your loved ones are going through on a daily basis. Time to acknowledge that you are not alone.
Action Day
Recently, MTV and Viacom have partnered, here in the US, with over 900 companies and organizations to start the first ever annual Mental Health Action Day. This year, in 2021, The Mental Health Action Day is May 20th.
Reach Out
It is time to take action! I don’t mean to go out and try to change the world, at least not in one day. But I would like to offer some suggestions on how we, together, can make a change on the battle of mental health. Step one is a simple one and can be the hardest for many. #1: Reach Out! Do you have family that you have not spoken to or heard from in days, weeks, months, or years? It is time to reach out. Make that phone call. Send that email. Write that letter. Or even better, go see them. By reaching out, this tells that person they still have someone in their life that thinks about them and cares about them.
Think about this. How would you like it if someone you have not talked to or seen for years suddenly reached out to say hi and how are you doing? I had this happen to me a few years ago with a friend I lost touch with nearly 20 years ago. She reached out to me via Facebook and she has helped me in some of the battles I was facing.
This pandemic has affected everyone’s lives in not just the disease, but in our mental health. Society needs the social element and communication with people in order to thrive. COVID-19 pandemic took that away from us for such a long period of time that now, no one knows what to do with themselves or their minds.
Talkative
Step two can be just as hard as step one. #2: Talk! I have said this many times in previous posts. But it is so true. When you are reaching out to the family and friends, talk. Tell them about you and what your life has been like. Get the conversation moving so that you are both comfortable. Just talk. No one can understand you, or guide you, or care for you if you don’t talk. Think about your significant other, your sibling, your best friend and think how you would feel if that person was completely closed off and wouldn’t talk about anything?
Now I am not telling you to bare your soul to just anyone. Just start off with little bit of information to a friend or family member. The main item here is to get talking. The more you talk, the more you will realize that you are not alone. I have always believed that we are all the same, we just handle it differently. We all feel, love, cry, hurt. How we feel, love, cry and hurt is a part that makes us unique.
There is always a choice
Step 3 is a big one. #3: Choose. Only you can choose to get help. Yes, you can be forced to go to a therapist. But you and only you, choose to listen and allow the doctor to guide you to a healthier you. No one can take that choice away. Again, yes, you can be forced to see someone. But no, you are the only one to make the choice to WANT to get better. You choose to do step 1 & 2.
You are not alone
One last thing to think about. If you ever feel like you are alone in the world, like no one understands you, you are wrong. It may not be the people in front of you. There is someone in this world that will listen to you and understand what you feel. So please, if you take anything away from my blog, is to know that you are not alone. If you do not find the help in the family and friends nearby, please call the National Suicide Hotline or SAMHSA Crisis Hotline and there is always the Mental Health.gov site with more information as well as a live chat.
Remember, that May 20th is the first annual Mental Health Action Day and lets take that day to take action against the stigma of mental health and lets help each other in this crazy world.
As always, I am here for anyone in the world who needs a listener.
With great warmth,
