Life with a mental illness
May isMentalHealthMonth, and theMentalHealth Association of Southeast Florida is recognizing this month with a message of hope and opportunity. Whenmental disorders are talked about, the language typically used to describe them tends to be clinical and impersonal. These words, while useful for clinicians, often don’t do justice to what life with a mental illness feels like. That iswhy this year’s theme—“LifeWith aMental Illness”— is a call to action to share what life with a mental illness feels like to someone going through it.
May isMentalHealthMonthwas started 67 years ago byMentalHealth Association of Southeast Florida’s national organization, MentalHealth America, to raise awareness about mental conditions and the importance of good mental health for everyone. Last year, mental health materialswere seen and used by19 million people, with more than 5,500 entities downloadingMHA’s toolkits. The 2015 theme— based on our B4Stage4 initiative— helped individuals understand that when you address mental health symptoms before Stage 4, people can often recover quickly and live full and productive lives.
This year, we are building on the B4Stage4 message and encouraging individuals to give voice to what it really means to live at stages1, 2, 3 and 4 of mental illness. Life with aMental Illness is meant to help remove the shame and stigma of speaking out, so that more people can be comfortable coming out of the shadows and seeking the help they need. Mental illnesses arecommonand treatable, and help is available. We need to speak up early— before Stage 4— and in real, relatable terms so that people don’t feel isolated and alone. Sharing is the key to breaking downthe stigma surrounding mental illness and to show others they are not alone in their feelings and symptoms.
ThisMentalHealthMonth, we are encouraging people to speak up about howit feels to live with a mental illness by tagging social media posts with #mentalillnessfeelslike. Posting with our hashtag is away to speak up, to share your point of view with peoplewhomay be struggling to explain what they are going through, and to help others figure out if they too are showing signs of mental illness.
MHAhas developed a series of fact sheets available at mentalhealthamerica.net/may on realizing the critical importance of addressing mental health early, recognizing the risk factors and signs of mental illness, understanding what mental illness is and isn’t, and howand where to get help when needed. Research shows that by ignoring symptoms, we lose10 years in whichwe could intervene in order to change people’s lives for the better. Speaking out about what mental illness feels like can encourage others to recognize symptoms early on in the disease process, and empower individuals to be agents in their own recovery.
Prevention, early identification and intervention, and integrated serviceswork. Informing people howlife with amental illness feels helps build support fromfriends and family, reduces stigma and discrimination, and is crucial to recovery.