May is Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, an important time to raise awareness about mental health and help the millions of Americans who live with mental illness.  The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) joins the movement to help fight the stigma, provide support, educate the public, and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.

You Are Not Alone

The message that NAMI notes for 2021 is You Are Not Alone. 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. NAMI is also promoting the WhyCare Campaign which is an opportunity to share the importance of mental health treatment, support, and services to all those affected by mental illness. It is also a challenge to address broken systems and attitudes that present barriers to treatment and recovery.

 Pandemic Challenges

The pandemic has created a lot of stress and anxiety for many that never experienced it before and for those that did, it may have exasperated and worsened these challenging emotions. According to Joshua Gordon, the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health in his message of April 9, 2021, titled, "One Year In: COVID-19 and Mental Health, he says       “Several surveys, including those collected by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), have shown substantial increases in self-reported behavioral health symptoms. According to one CDC report, which surveyed adults across the U.S. in late June of 2020, 31% of respondents reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, 13% reported having started or increased substance use, 26% reported stress-related symptoms, and 11% reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past 30 days. These numbers are nearly double the rates we would have expected before the pandemic. As in prior studies, this survey showed that risk factors for reporting anxiety symptoms or suicidal ideation included food insufficiency, financial concerns, and loneliness.”

Further, Gordon speaks about public awareness in this part of his message, "The CDC, NIMH, and other agencies have been working hard to raise public awareness of the resources that are available to support people’s immediate mental health needs, including the Disaster Distress Helpline, the Crisis Text Line, and the Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK). In addition, many mental health care providers made a rapid transition to phone- and computer-based telehealth, with widespread adoption across both private and public mental health systems. 

The mental health impacts of COVID-19 continue. From all that we know, it is clear these impacts will outlive the pandemic itself. Therefore, we must work together to apply evidence-based strategies to support the mental health needs of all Americans and to make these strategies broadly available, especially in vulnerable communities.”

 Stress, Anxiety, and Fear

If someone elicits signs of mental illness they are always referred to a mental health clinician for the appropriate treatment.  If you or someone you know has signs of mental illness, don’t wait, be sure to get professional assistance as soon as possible. 

Although as nationally board-certified health and wellness coaches we are not credentialed to treat mental illness, we do work with clients that have a high level of fear, anxiety, and/or stress in their lives.  We feel it important to assist appropriate clients to manage these feelings for an improvement in their mental health. 

The Physical Effects of Stress

We witness how anxiety, fear, and stress can have a significant impact on physical health as well.  An interesting metric is that 80% of emergency room visits are related to stress so it is important to identify sources of the stress and how it can be managed and addressed.

Oftentimes, when you are under stress your emotions can activate the “fight or flight” response.  Whether the stress and fear are real or perceived, it can cause the same effects.  Here are some ways these negative emotions can affect our health:

  • Rapid heart rate and high blood pressure

  • Shortness of breath

  • Exhaustion

  • Insomnia

  • Weight loss or weight gain

  • Gastrointestinal issues such as ulcers

  • Lower immune system

  • Panic attacks

  • Loss of concentration and altered thinking

Managing stress, anxiety and fear is complex and can be ongoing and chronic.  You may or may not be fully aware of how much stress you have in your life or how it affects you.  You may want to try one or more of the following suggestions to see how you feel and if any of them make you feel calmer and more focused.

  • Deep breathing exercise throughout the day

  • Exercise of your choice that releases those feel-good endorphins

  • Meditation in the form of quieting your thoughts, prayer, a walk in nature

  • Having an awareness of your thoughts and if they are true and real

  • Staying in the moment and pushing out thoughts of the past and the future

  • Using lavender essential oil for aromatherapy treatment

 Book suggestions: 

  • The Healing Power of the Breath, Dr. Richard P. Brown. Simple techniques to reduce stress and anxiety, enhance concentration, and balance your emotions.

  • The Relaxation Response, Dr. Herbert Benson. This provides a simple technique to start to learn how to meditate. Eliciting the relaxation response is simple, Dr. Benson explained: Once or twice a day for 10 to 20 minutes, sit in a relaxed position, eyes closed, and repeat a word or sound as you breathe. Some people use such words as "love" or "peace." Others say traditional prayers.

References

 https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/messages/2021/one-year-in-covid-19-and-mental-health