For those who are more familiar with Mental Health Awareness Month, this month can be a good time to reflect, learn, and grow as mental health advocates. However, it’s also a time to share with others, especially in the ways that we discuss mental health and how exactly awareness is spread. If you’re just getting started in your journey as a mental health advocate (which anyone can be!), I put together five helpful tips and reminders that can help you spread mental health awareness and start having those important conversations.
Continue readingmental health awareness month
Finding Mental Wellness During Uncertain Times
On Tuesday, I wrote about what my approach to mental health has been like during the pandemic – an approach that includes a bit of pessimism, an emphasis on focus and a willingness to let out my emotions when I need. The more I wrote about these things, the more I reflected on how I’ve been able to maintain mental wellness as often as I could during the past year-plus of this pandemic.
One of the more difficult things I’ve come to terms with is that as long as we’ve been living this way, I still haven’t truly processed what we’ve gone through, and what we’re still going through. Truthfully, I’m slightly nervous of what that will look like for my mental health. But the bigger question on my mind is, how do you process something when you don’t know when it will end?
Continue readingA Pandemic Approach to Mental Health
For Mental Health Awareness Month this year, I’m placing a focus on the pandemic’s impact. At this point, I’ve been working from home for 15 months, my life has seen drastic changes, and I have hit more mental walls than I ever thought possible in only a year. Part of me hoped I’d never really write about my mental health approach from this last year and a half. Now that this is the second Mental Health Month in a pandemic, I decided to share parts of how I’ve been able to find peace and wellness where I could find it. This approach includes a dose of pessimism, an emphasis on focus and a willingness to let out my emotions when I need it.
Continue readingFour Ways to Spread Mental Health Awareness
I’ve said this plenty of times before on the blog, but I talk about mental health a lot. It’s a topic constantly on my mind, and the more I discuss it the more it comes up in every day life. I view mental health as a key part of people’s lives, which is what makes Mental Health Awareness Month so important as a mental health advocate. But how do you spread awareness about a topic as broad and far-ranging as mental health? Where does a person even start? Today, I’m sharing four of the biggest ways that I spread mental health awareness in my work, and how each of these ways works to shrink the stigma and start a discussion about mental health.
Continue readingMental Health Awareness Month 2021
It’s May, which means that it’s another big month for mental health! May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States, an annual event that raises national awareness for mental health. While mental health awareness happens year-round, this month is a time for specific conversations about shrinking the mental health stigma and advocating for the mental health policies and services that people need. Different organizations will have various themes, and this month is a good time for the mental health community to come together and advocate for what we ALL need to maintain mental wellness. Here are a few campaigns to keep an eye on this month!
Continue readingFirst Steps to Getting Help for Mental Health Issues
Getting help for anything can be hard. For mental health? In my experience, it can be one of the most difficult things to do. There are so many reasons for why people can’t get the help they need. A lack of information and resources can make people feel like it’s more work than it’s worth. Figuring out how to find affordable mental health care can be another mountain to climb (insurance, you suck). And of course, there is the stigma of it all. So let’s take it back to the beginning. If you – or someone you know – is struggling with mental health issues, how can you take the first step to get help? Here are some things to consider.
Continue readingWhy Everyone Should Care About Mental Health Awareness Month
As we reach the end of Mental Health Awareness Month 2020, I was trying to figure out what else I could write about it. Seeing as how this is a mental health blog, it feels like every post I write is about mental health awareness – what could I say now that would make this any different? But, seeing as how this is a big month not only for the mental health community but for organizations around the country, I decided to share why this isn’t just a cause for those affected, it’s for everyone. We should all care about mental health awareness – and here’s why.
Continue readingMy Own Approach to Mental Health
As we continue on with Mental Health Awareness Month, I’ve taken a real interest in trying to define and explain what the concept of mental health looks like. I never thought the answer would be simple, but I did think that there would be a consensus. In the mental health community, it seems like there is.
Outside of that? It seems a bit up in the air. And since there are plenty of people who might be dealing with their own mental health challenges for the first time, it’s not the time for whataboutisms or judging what others are doing to stay mentally healthy. One way I can do that is to explain how I approach my mental wellness. Continue reading
A Mental Health Month Challenge
In case you missed it, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I like to start off the month by writing about some of the organizations and resources that are available for people to learn more about mental health. Whether you’re learning more about your own mental health or its prevalence in your country and community, there’s plenty of information out there that shows how important mental wellness is in this day and age.
But this year, I also wanted to help encourage others to explore their own mental health –Â however that looks. And I think I found a few good ways.
Mental Health Awareness Month 2020
The month of May is a big deal for MBNB because it’s Mental Health Awareness Month! I write about Mental Health Awareness Month every year, not only because this is a mental health blog (duh!) but because I like to share the themes leading mental health organizations focus on each year. Continue reading
My Brain's Not Broken 