Mental Health Awareness

Mental Health Awareness Week and World Mental Health Day

The week of October 7 to October 13 is Mental Health Awareness Week in the United States. October 10 is World Mental Health Day. So what better time to write about this?

Some statistics and important notes

Nearly half of mental health illness occurs before the age of 14. However, mental health problems in children and teenagers often go unnoticed and untreated. Around 44 million adults in the U.S. (one in five adults or 18.5 percent) experience mental health problems each year. At the same time, mental illnesses affect 46 percent of teenagers and 13 percent of children in a given year. Also, 4 percent of adult Americans suffer from mental illness each year that significantly interferes with their normal life activities.

However, there is a growing recognition of the importance of helping both young people and adults build mental resilience in order to cope with daily challenges. Promoting and protecting mental health benefits individuals and society equally.

Mental health is the foundation of our overall well-being. It is key to our relationships, self-esteem, resilience, and ability to contribute to our community and society. Moreover, mental health is the basis for healthy emotions and thinking, positive communication, ability to learn and adapt.

What is Mental Illness?

It is important to understand that mental illness is a health condition like any other disease. It involves changes in feelings, thinking, and behavior (or any combination of these three). Mental illness causes huge distress to a person suffering and his/her family and it causes problems functioning in relationships, at work, school, and all other aspects of life.

Again, mental illness is a medical problem – just like diabetes, heart disease or cancer. Although not curable , many forms of mental health illnesses are treatable, allowing the individuals to continue with their daily lives. Early identification and action are likely to make treatment more efficient.

Research suggests that the complex causes of mental illnesses include genetics, brain structure and chemistry, life experiences, and other medical conditions.

Two most common mental health conditions include anxiety disorders and mood disorders. According to the World Health Organization, by 2020, depression will become the second leading cause of disability globally.

Similarly, more than 18 percent of adults experience some type of anxiety disorder each year. These commonly include generalized anxiety disorder (which I have!), specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and panic disorder.

Why mental health awareness matters

Only half of the people with a mental illness get treatment. A lot of that comes down to stigma, which keeps people ashamed, silent, and untreated — sometimes for years, sometimes for their whole life.

Awareness is how that changes. The more people understand what mental illness is and what it isn’t, the easier it gets for someone struggling to ask for help, and the easier it gets for the people around them to offer it.

Stigma is the biggest barrier. If you want to dig deeper into how it works, how it feels, and how to push back on it, I wrote about it in how stigma affects your life.

Ways to support your mental health (and everyone else’s)

Get moving

Regular physical exercise has a strong effect on mental health. It helps with anxiety and depression, builds resilience, improves self-esteem, and lifts mood. Even a moderate amount of daily movement makes a difference.

Running in particular triggers changes in the brain — new neural growth, new activity patterns, and a release of endorphins. Endorphins are natural pain relievers and mood stabilizers. They behave similarly to what antidepressants do, just on a smaller scale.

Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness is being fully present in the current moment without interpreting, judging, or overreacting to it. It’s training your brain to pay attention to what’s actually happening instead of spiraling on what might happen or already did.

Research shows mindfulness helps with stress resilience, concentration, memory, and self-awareness. Studies have also shown that mindful meditation reduces activity in the amygdala — the part of the brain that drives the stress response — which lowers background anxiety over time.

Spread awareness

Stigma persists mostly because of ignorance and media stereotypes. Speaking up in your own circles helps protect the rights of people with mental illness and gives them the same opportunities as everyone else.

Showing respect and acceptance to someone with mental illness removes one of the biggest barriers they face. When you see a person instead of their diagnosis, it changes how they see themselves too — and that helps prevent self-stigma.

Help someone who’s struggling

If someone you know has a mental illness, the best thing you can do is learn, listen, and not try to fix them. See how to help someone with mental illness for more.

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