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It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week. Know Support Matters

The first full week of October is Mental Illness Awareness Week. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has dedicated 2021’s campaign as “Together for Mental Health1.” When people come together to give and receive mental health support, thriving with mental illness is possible.

Many people living with mental health disorders lack professional help.

  • Less than half of people in the U.S. living with a mental health disorder received professional health care or other services in the past year2.
  • In 2017-2018, 60 percent of youth living with major depressive disorder went untreated. States with the best availability of mental health services still see a third of youth with depression going untreated3.
  • In 2017-2018, almost 25 percent of adults living with a mental illness reported a lack of treatment, a number that has remained consistent since 20113.

While this is a systemic issue that will be slow to improve, all hope is not lost. Having a strong social support network has been found to be invaluable for people living with mental illness4.

Who in your life can you trust to listen to your concerns, treat you with dignity and respect, and help you do what you need to do to embrace life? Identifying trusted family members, friends, faith leaders, organizations, and peers in a support group will help you build a strong support system to work through the challenges of living with mental illness. You aren’t defined by your mental illness, and your support system not only knows that but will help you embrace that fact, too.

Sources:

  1. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). (n.d.). Mental illness awareness week. Retrieved October, 2021 from https://www.nami.org/get-involved/awareness-events/mental-illness-awareness-week
  2. Mental Health First Aid. (2019, February). 5 surprising mental health statistics. National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Retrieved from https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/2019/02/5-surprising-mental-health-statistics/
  3. Mental Health America. (n.d.). 2021: The state of mental health in America. Retrieved October, 2021 from https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america
  4. Mental Health First Aid. (2020, August). The Importance of Having a Support System. National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Retrieved from https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/2020/08/the-importance-of-having-a-support-system/

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If you're not already, I hope you'll like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. Please share the newsletter on any social network you belong to. For updates throughout the week, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or follow us on Instagram.

Thank you,
Deborah

Community Partner Team
HealthyPlace.com - America's Mental Health Channel
"When you're at HealthyPlace.com, you're never alone."
http://www.healthyplace.com

APA Reference
Peterson, T. (2021, October 5). It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week. Know Support Matters, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, March 28 from https://www.healthyplace.com/its-mental-illness-awareness-week-know-support-matters

Last Updated: October 6, 2021

Medically reviewed by Harry Croft, MD

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