Say It Out Loud: There Is No Shame in Mental Illness.
These are important words that every child, teen, and adult should hear!
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, with a special focus on children’s mental health. We often focus on physical diseases, so it’s important to spend some time bringing awareness to mental health issues; which can be just as debilitating and impactful as any other health issue.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 1 in 5 children have had a seriously debilitating mental disorder and the Centers for Disease Control’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Study found that approximately 13 percent of children ages 8 to 15 had a diagnosable mental disorder within the previous year.”
“Mental health disorders are the most common health issues faced by our nation’s school-aged children,” according to the Child Mind Institute’s report on children’s mental health.
The brain is not fully developed until around age 25, making children and teenagers more vulnerable to mental health conditions.
And furthermore, for those living with a rare physical condition or caregiving for someone with one, stress management is a must, to ensure good and balanced mental health. So it’s an important topic for everyone.
So here are some things we can do to celebrate May mental health awareness!
Advocacy groups have slated Thursday May 10, 2018 as ational Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, and in observance, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is bringing together some governors’ spouses, youth and family leaders, senior federal officials, and executives from leading professional health organizations for a town hall discussion on how to transform child serving systems to be more trauma informed.
The event is called “Partnering for Health and Hope Following Trauma,” and will be streamed online here, May 10, at 7 p.m. EDT.
Also, the National Alliance on Mental Illness created its Say it Out Loud campaign, to get teens talking about mental health.
Say it Out Loud gives adults the tools they need to hold conversations about mental health with teens. The toolkit includes:
- A short film featuring three teen’s experiences.
- A discussion guide.
- A narrated presentation for the facilitator.
- Fact sheets and information about connecting with your local NAMI.
Click here for importation on Say it Out Loud.
