The first week of October is Mental Illness Awareness Week(MIAW). Although it’s important to have a week to raise awareness, fight discrimination and provide support for mental health conditions, I view this as an opportunity to create an open dialogue the whole year-round. When I think of MIAW, I’m taken back to my time working in community behavioral health where I worked with a small group of individuals between 15-30 yrs old who’d experienced their 1st episode of psychosis. I remember being struck by the concern and uncertainty some individuals presented with upon entering the program which I later realized was due to limited awareness of whichever diagnosis was applied. It’s an understandably scary time not just for the individual, but their family and friends as well. I believe that the simple act of providing support through information and increasing their awareness of what the mental illness is dramatically increased their chances of life beyond a diagnosis because the unknown lost some of its luster. Our society has made great strides when it comes to the stigma of mental health awareness, but that doesn’t mean we have to take our collective foot off the pedal. If you’d like to learn more, I’ve included a link for the National Alliance on Mental Illness to learn more. Thank you for your time and take care!

https://www.nami.org/get-involved/awareness-events/mental-illness-awareness-week