Category: Awareness

As we continue with Mental Health Awareness Month, I will be posting weekly key messages, along with statistics and resources, so that you can advocate and also raise awareness around mental health. By learning the facts and sharing the resources, you can make a difference in the life of someone struggling.

Week 3 Message: Finding Help

When your mental health is off, it is important to find the help that is right for you. Where you go for help will depend on what is occurring within your life. Often the best place to start is to talk with those that you already have a connection with, including your friends and family, your primary care doctor, your spiritual advisor, or a local mental health organization.

Help can be found in many places and depends on what type of support you may need. It can start with participating in some self-care or engaging with family and friends. You may need someone else to help you process, find a distraction, or problem solve. If the problems in your life are stopping you from functioning well or feeling good, professional help can make a big difference. Even if you’re not sure that you would benefit from help, it can’t hurt to explore the possibility.

Engaging in more formal services can help you

• Develop plans for resolving problems
• Feel stronger in the face of challenges
• Change behaviors that hold you back
• Look at ways of thinking that affect how you feel
• Heal pains from your past
• Figure out your goals
• Build self-confidence

Talking with someone about your thoughts and feelings can save your life. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress. If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. 988 connects you with a trained crisis counselor who can help.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe! ~Sally~

Your mental health is no different than your physical health. Just like you do things to stay physically healthy, like brushing your teeth, eating well, and going to the doctor, there are things that you can do on a regular basis to stay mentally healthy. This can and will look different for everyone. The JED Foundation has a variety of resources to help you find some ideas to consider to add to your self-care practice.

Many of us face challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions. It is natural to feel stress, anxiety, grief, and worry. Remind yourself that tomorrow is a new day that could bring new celebrations and challenges. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention How Right Now promotes and strengthens emotional well-being and resiliency that can help you through a range of emotions that we all face.

Feeling well-connected to other people promotes positive mental health and physical health, and gives life meaning. Connecting with others is one of the 10 Tools For Resiliency that Mental Health America has put together to help you feel stronger and more hopeful.

Addressing mental health isn’t just about tending to struggles, it is also about enhancing strengths so that you can thrive! According to the Mental Health Coalition, you need three things to thrive: belonging, meaning, and connection. Know that the journey can and will look different for everyone.

Stay tuned for week 3 of Mental Health Awareness Month, as I will cover finding help.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe! ~Sally~

Now more than ever, we need to find ways to stay connected with our community. No one should feel alone or without the information, support, and help they need.

Each Wednesday during the month of May, I will highlight a book that is available for check out at the library. Thanks to a generous donation, we were able to add 8 new titles that feature mental health.

Recovering From Depression: A Guide to Overcoming Your Self-Sabotaging Behaviors and Learning Healthy Coping Mechanisms by Maggie Kelly.

The following excerpt is from the author, Maggie Kelly. You can click this link to find this title in our online catalog.

Are you struggling with intrusive thoughts and depression? Are you unable to break the cycle of pain you are in?

All of these questions came to me when I was struggling with my own mental health issues. Following a three-month stint in the mental hospital, I found the help I needed to push through it and get myself back together. I had to stitch myself back together and understand that recovery is a process, not an instant cure. It wasn’t easy, but that is part of the reason why I wrote this book.

This book is about my journey with depression and the lessons I learned along the way. It teaches you how to use my techniques to guide you through your own recovery process.

In this book, you will learn:

• Why you self-sabotage
• How to overcome your self-sabotaging tendencies
• Healthy coping mechanisms
• How to be an active participant in your recovery
• The health triangle to recover!

This book is a must read for anyone who is thinking of getting help or in the process of getting help with their mental health. You don’t have to do this alone. I hope my story helps you to the other side of recovery.

About the author:

Maggie Kelly is a writer who focuses on mental health and personal development. She has struggled with depression since her young teens. Her life trajectory changed after hitting rock bottom at age 26. Following a three month stint in the mental hospital, she found the help she needed. She wrote this book to help others who also struggle with depression.

Here are a few other titles that are part of our mental health collection and available for check out!

• The Collected Schizophrenias – Essays by Esme Weijun Wang
• Multiple Personality Disorder From the Inside Out – Edited by Barry M. Cohen, Esther Giller, and Lynn W.
• (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation About Mental Health – Edited by Kelly Jensen

Stay happy, healthy, and safe! ~Sally~

As we continue with Mental Health Awareness Month, I will be posting weekly key messages, along with statistics and resources, so that you can advocate and also raise awareness around mental health.  By learning the facts and sharing the resources, you can make a difference in the life of someone struggling.

Week 2 Message:  Self Care

We all have mental health, and it is important for us to take care of ourselves. Self-care is the practice of taking care of oneself. It takes purposeful effort, but it can help with maintaining or improving our daily mental well-being.

It is important to note that self-care is not a selfish act and doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive. It can be whatever you make it and is an intentional way to love yourself. There are many different forms of self-care, and it is important for you to find out what works best for you. Below are a few different forms of self-care, according to the Mental Health Coalition.

• Physical: Addresses stress that lives in your body. It alleviates pain or tension that either causes or results from mental stress. This can include massage, fitness, aromatherapy, pampering and rest.
• Emotional: Involves tending to your own internal emotional world, especially your mood and feelings. This can include connection with others, counseling, journaling, creative writing, and art.
• Cognitive: Engages in activities that are intellectually rewarding and/or stimulating. This can include reading, writing, listening to podcasts or books, watching movies, and therapy.
• Spiritual: This can take many different forms and does not have to be tied to formal religion. It means getting in touch with the less tangible aspects of yourself and the world around you. This can include meditation, prayer, connecting with a spiritual or religious community, and mantras.

To better care for yourself, identify a few different forms of self-care that you would like to try or have tried and liked. Schedule a time to engage in and enjoy these forms of self-care, and continue regularly until it becomes a part of your daily life.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe! ~Sally~

We all have mental health every day. Achieving or maintaining mental wellness takes work. Research has found several ways you can keep yourself healthy. Mental Health America has resources available on how to maintain mental wellness.

Mental health is all around us, but is often misunderstood. The Roadmap to Mental Health, developed by the Mental Health Coalition, is a resource to help explain and provide language on what we mean when we say “mental health.”

There are many harmful attitudes and misunderstandings around mental health conditions and mental illness. This can make people ignore their mental health, fuel stigma, and make it harder to reach out for help. Take the Mental Health Quiz developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and see if you can separate the myths from the facts.

While 1 in 5 people will experience a mental health condition during their lifetime, everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health. Mental Health America Tools 2 Thrive provides information, tips, and practical tools for situations that we all deal with. These tools can be used to improve your mental health and increase your resiliency.

Stay tuned for week 2 of Mental Health Awareness Month, as I will cover self-care!

Stay happy, healthy, and safe! ~Sally~

Now more than ever, we need to find ways to stay connected with our community. No one should feel alone or without the information, support, and help they need.

Each Wednesday during the month of May, I will highlight a book that is available for check out at the library. Thanks to a generous donation, we were able to add 8 new titles that feature mental health.

Depression, Anxiety, and Other Things We Don’t Want to Talk About by Ryan Casey Waller.

The following excerpt is from Amazon.com. You can click this link to find this title in our online catalog.

Mental illness loves to tell lies. One of those lies is that you should be able to manage what you’re struggling with all by yourself. In Depression, Anxiety, and Other Things We Don’t Talk About, pastor and psychotherapist Ryan Casey Waller reminds us that we don’t have to suffer alone.

Mental health issues aren’t a symptom of a spiritual failing or insufficient faith. In fact, suffering is the very thing our Savior seeks to heal as he leads us toward restoration. And yet, as Waller has experienced firsthand, the battle can be lonely and discouraging–but it doesn’t have to be.

Combining practical theology, clinical insights, and deep empathy, Waller offers a rare mix of companionship and truth, inviting us to:

• Have shame-free conversations about mental health
• Discover why self-knowledge is so important to a deep relationship with God
• Understand the intersection of biology, psychology, and spirituality
• Explore varying avenues of healing in community, therapy, and medication
• Be equipped to support loved ones while practicing self-care

Waller bridges the gap between the spiritual and the psychological in this empathetic, imminently helpful guidebook, reminding us all that we are not alone. Hope starts now.

Here are a few other titles that are part of our mental health collection and available for check out!

• Nobody’s Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness – Roy Richard Grinker
• You’re Not Alone: The Only Book You’ll Ever Need to Overcome Anxiety and Depression – Zachary David Westerbeck
• Rewire Your Anxious Brain: How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to End Anxiety, Panic & Worry – Catherine M. Pittman, PhD and Elizabeth M. Karle, MLIS

Stay happy, healthy, and safe! ~Sally~

May is upon us, and that means the start of Mental Health Awareness Month 2023.  Anyone who knows me or who has followed this page for a while, might know that mental health is a cause very close to my heart and something I advocate for year-round.

Mental Health Awareness Month was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in the lives of Americans and to celebrate recovery from mental illness.  This month provides a dedicated time for people, organizations, and communities to join their voices and broadcast the message that mental health matters and healing is possible.

During the month, I will be posting weekly key messages, along with statistics and resources, so that you can also advocate and raise awareness around mental health.  By learning the facts and sharing the resources, you can make a difference in the life of someone struggling.

Week 1 message:  Mental Health Matters.

We all have mental health.  It effects how we think, feel, and act every day.  However, mental health is often ignored until something is going wrong.  The best way to prevent that is to pay attention, even when you are feeling OK.  We all have days when we feel better than others.  Just like with our physical health, we can all do things that make us mentally healthier.

Mental health plays a big role in your overall well-being.  When you’re mentally healthy, you can enjoy your life and the people in it, and feel good about yourself.  Keeping up good relationships, managing stress, and creating positive habits is a great way to support your mental health.

Having poor mental health is not the same as having a mental health condition.  We all have tough days and weeks, but struggling with your mental health doesn’t automatically mean that you have a mental health condition.  To be diagnosed, the changes in your thinking and emotions must be seriously hurting your ability to do the things you want to do, and the symptoms are staying around longer than they should, like weeks or months.  For some, this means extreme and unexpected changes in mood, like feeling more sad or worried than usual.  For others, it means not thinking clearly, pulling away from friends and activities you used to enjoy, or hearing voices that others do not.  No matter what kind of mental health condition someone is facing, it is possible to heal.

So, always be kind and never judge a person by their exterior. You never really know what is going on behind their laughter and smiles. You never really know the true impact you have on those around you. You never really know how much someone needed that smile you gave them. You never know how much your kindness turned someone’s entire life around. You never know how much someone needed that long hug or deep talk. So don’t wait to be kind. Don’t wait for someone else to be kind first. Don’t wait for better circumstances or for someone to change. Just be kind, because you never know how much someone needs it.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe! ~Sally~