It’s Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness month, among other things. During the past year, Mental Health America reported an unprecedented increase in the numbers of Americans experiencing mental health struggles.
The State of Mental Health in America 2021 reported key findings including the following:
• Youth mental health is worsening. According to the report, 9.7% of our youth have severe major depression, compared to 9.2% the year before. This rate was highest among youth who identify as more than one race, at 12.4%.
• Even before COVID-19, the prevalence of mental illness among adults was increasing. The report showed an increase of 1.5 million adults experienced mental illness.
•Suicidal ideation among adults is increasing. An additional 460,000 adults experienced serious thoughts of suicide compared to previous data base.
• There is still unmet need for mental health treatment among youth and adults. According to the report, 60% of youth with major depression did not receive any mental health treatments and 23.6 of adults with a mental illness reported an unmet need for treatment.
• The percentage of adults with a mental illness who are uninsured increase for the first time since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
This year’s report includes spotlight on the impact of COVID-19 on mental health using the over 1.5 million people who have taken a screen on Mental Health America Screening from January to September 2020. These are some of the findings:
•The number of people looking for help with anxiety and depression has skyrocketed.
•The number of people screening with moderate to severe symptoms of depression and anxiety has continued to increase throughout 2020 and remains higher than rates prior to COVID-19.
•More people are reporting frequent thoughts of suicide and self-harm than have ever been recorded in the MHA Screening program since its launch in 2014.
•Young people are struggling most with their mental health. The proportion of youth ages 11-17 who accessed screening was 9% higher than the average in previous year.
• Rates of suicidal ideation are highest among youth, especially LGBTQ youth. In September 2020, over 50% of 11- to 17-year-olds reported having thoughts of suicide or self-harm nearly every day.
•People screening at risk for mental health conditions are struggling most with loneliness and isolation.
• People who identify as Asian or Pacific Islander are searching for mental health resources more in 2020 than ever before.
The mental health screen is accessible at MHAscreening.org. It’s free and a quick private way to assess your mental health and can help you recognize signs of mental health problems.
Seek help of expert health care providers once you recognize problems with your mental health. Seeking professional help when self-help efforts to improve your mental health are not working is a sign of strength.
Mental health is essential to our overall health and well-being. Know that mental illnesses are common and treatable.
Keep your thoughts in check. Negative thoughts can occupy our minds over and over again and can spiral out of control.
Of the many people that took the anxiety screen at mhascreening.org in 2020, 64% felt afraid, as if something awful might happen, nearly every day.
During difficult times, negative thoughts are especially likely to spiral out of control.
Acknowledge the negative details of the situation, but do not ignore the positive sides as well. COVID-19 altered our lives, but it also brought new awareness.
Blowing things out of proportion and dwelling on the worst possible outcome is a common distortion of the mind.
Be reminded that thoughts are not facts. You might think that you are unattractive, when others actually think you are uniquely interesting.
You might think you are not smart enough to go to school, but in fact the school is waiting for you. Our negative thoughts get in the way of our personal growth.
When you catch your inner self being mean to you, say something nice.
Clearly see the divinity in you.