How to Know When You Are Mentally Healthy

Key takeaways

• Engage in Mental Health Awareness Month

• Celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month This May

• Mental Illness Awareness Week

• Mental Health Tips for the New Year

• Applaud Those Unsung Community Heroes

• Quarantine & Mental Health

Engage in Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to shine a light on overall well-being and look for ways to initiate change related to how others view mental health. The more people know, the more they understand. And MHCS hopes this month brings with it a host of opportunities to raise awareness. Keep reading to discover tips for personal growth to help you engage in Mental Health Awareness Month.

Mental health encompasses overall well-being. Our emotional, intellectual, and social wellness affects feelings, thoughts, and actions; the ways in which we relate to others; and how we react to adversity. So many of the things that make us who we are can be directly linked to mental health.

Celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month This May

Many of us find ourselves in a slump this time of year. Though we began 2019 with good intentions, the task of maintaining healthy habits each day can start to feel more challenging than empowering. Now that May is officially here, however, it’s time to give our self-care and mental wellness a good spring cleaning.

Throughout the month of May, we encourage you to join the movement to help reevaluate your mental health care and wellness by finding support for yourself—and offering it to those around you, as well.

Mental Illness Awareness Week

Each year, the first full week of October is dedicated to Mental Illness Awareness by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) . The event falls on October 2 through October 8 this year. During that time and throughout October, NAMI and nearly 1,000 state organizations and NAMI affiliates will raise awareness of mental illness by hosting activities and events.

One in five Americans lives with a mental health condition . These conditions are more than just occasional emotional ups and downs. They are long lasting medical conditions that cause changes in our moods – how we feel and what we think. It is important that anyone with a mental health condition seeks proper treatment in order to live and work productively and meaningfully.

Mental Health Tips for the New Year

A New Year, a new decade, and a new outlook! For many of us, December 31st sparks a new beginning or milestone of where we are and where we hope to be in 2020. Your New Year’s resolution may include exercising more, finding a better job, getting out of credit card debt, or learning ways to improve your mental health, so you feel stronger and more confident going into 2020.

If learning how to improve your mental health is your new resolution then the key to your success will be making a plan and following that path all the way through. Here are some mental health tips for the New Year to help you get started.

Applaud Those Unsung Community Heroes

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and an important time to recognize the issues that affect our overall well-being. Throughout this month, we also recognize a host of frontline workers who, on a daily basis, put the needs of others before their own. At MHCS , we applaud those unsung community heroes and want to take a closer look at their jobs and the personal sacrifices they make to put others first.

At some point, we all decide what we want to be when we “grow up.” Some hope to become rich or famous, some follow a creative dream or an expressive passion, and some simply want to help others, make a difference, or better the world. They deal with unimaginable stressors every day but handle it well, often setting aside their own well-being to get the job done.

Quarantine & Mental Health

Living a quarantine lifestyle sounds challenging enough, but without a clear understanding of when it will “officially” end—or what types of social restrictions could follow—it’s easy to start feeling panicked, stressed, and frustrated. Over time, these strong emotions often spill over to other important areas of our lives, including our work performance, self-esteem, and overall wellness (both physical and mental). We may also see loved ones struggle to stay positive and cope with increased stress, including our children, which can cause us to feel guilty for not knowing how to actively support or engage them.

We All Deal with Stress Differently Though we all experience stress, each person has his or her own way of working through it. However, if you’re the type of person who looks for social or physical activities to help relax, unwind, or even distract yourself from feeling anxious, staying in quarantine can definitely create a barrier. This is also true for others who thrive off social interactions, meeting people face to face, or working in group settings.

When to reach out

If symptoms are affecting relationships, work, school, sleep, or daily routines, professional support can help you sort through what is happening and choose a realistic next step.

MHCS provides therapy and mental health support for individuals, couples, families, teens, and adults.