Mental Health Awareness Month
nami.org
Each year millions of Americans are affected by mental health conditions and families are faced with the reality of living with the mental illness diagnosis. During May, NAMI joins the national movement to raise awareness about mental health. Here are facts about the prevalence and impact of mental illness.
- 1 in 5 adults in the United States lives with a mental health condition and 1 in 25 adults in the United States lives with a serious mental illness.
- Half of all lifetime mental health conditions begin by age 14 and 75% by age 24, but early intervention programs can help.
- 90% of those who die by suicide have an underlying mental illness. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, but suicide is preventable.
- The best treatments for serious mental illnesses today are highly effective; between 70 and 90% of individuals have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with the right treatments and supports.
Mental Health Month is an opportunity to take action where people can provide support, advocate for equal care and fight stigma. Stigma is a sense of shame and disgrace that sets someone apart from others. Dealing with a mental health condition can be tough, and the isolation and blame that is often encouraged by stigma can create huge challenges to moving forward in one’s recovery. Mental Health Month provides the opportunity for people to come together to fight stigma.
DOWNLOAD THE BULLETINFor additional information about Mental Health Month, please visit: nami.org/IntoMentalHealth
KNOW THE WARNING SIGNS
- Excessive worrying or fear
- Feeling excessively sad or low
- Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
- Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
- Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
- Avoiding friends and social activities
- Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
- Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
- Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
- Changes in sex drive
- Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don’t exist in objective reality)
- Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (“lack of insight” or anosognosia)
- Abuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
- Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
- Thinking about suicide
- Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
- An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance (mostly in adolescents)
