Mental Health Awareness Month
12/05/22 02:06
Last evening as I was preparing to facilitate our weekly Adult Forum, I commented to Susan, “How did it get to be Wednesday already?” She responded, “How did it get to be the middle of May already?” I know that the perception that time is passing quickly is a natural part of aging, and that these conversations will continue as the years pass, but her statement caught me short for a few minutes. It is the middle of May. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I had fully intended to have the resources from the United Church of Christ Mental Health Network on becoming a WISE (welcoming, inclusive, supportive and engaged) Congregation for Mental Health before May began. I haven’t even written about Mental Health Awareness in my journal this year and the month is almost over.
Every year millions of people face the harsh reality of living with a mental illness. The victims of mental illness, along with their families, learn about the stigma associated with mental illness. They learn, often in terrible ways, about the lack of emergency services for those suffering mental illness. They learn that educating the public about mental illness is a long, uphill battle.
Like so many other families whose lives have been affected by mental illness, our family has discovered that effective treatment of mental illness is possible and available for those who are fortunate enough to find services and networks of support. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has become for us a very important organization. Through its programs and our own experiences we have learned that mental health is a critically important part of overall health. The organization has been a lifeline for us of information, advocacy, and networking.
It is through NAMI, however, that I have learned about the growing number of Americans who are experiencing mental health symptoms. The COVID pandemic has not only exacted a toll on the physical health of millions, causing life-altering illness and death. It has also contributed to a sharp rise in mental illness in our communities.
This year’s theme for Mental Health Awareness Month is “Together for Mental Health.” It is a reminder of the need to work together with others to advocate for mental health and for access to adequate mental health care for all people.
Prior to 2020, I spent a lot of time in the emergency rooms of hospitals. As a suicide first responder and suicide survivor support specialist, I was part of a team dispatched by law enforcement to provide support to grieving families. In 2019, the community where I lived dedicated a new state-of-the-art emergency room in our hospital. The treatment area was the result of years of planning and tens of millions of dollars of investment. It was staffed by some of the best trained and best equipped emergency specialists in the nation. It was NOT the place for a person to receive treatment for mental illness. Our community built this tremendously expensive and well equipped emergency room while at the same time, the behavioral health unit of the hospital was across town, had no fully-staffed emergency room - not even a single room, and was full with a waiting list of those seeking treatment. Families needing emergency mental illness treatment often had to drive more than 300 miles to receive care.
Unfortunately that community is not unique. Access to mental health care is denied to millions in our country.
Sadly, mental illness can be fatal. I know that pain and grief first hand from years of being the bearer of the news of suicide to family members and attempting to provide on-going support to them. I know that pain and grief from hundreds of support group meetings. Just last week, the life of a talented and beautiful 16-year-old ended in a state park less than a mile from my home. Yesterday the medical examiner ruled the death a suicide and means hanging. I don’t know the family. I never met the young woman. I cry for their loss. The tragedy is deepened by the knowledge that proper intervention and treatment might have saved her life.
Global evidence-based research has revealed that when people who are contemplating suicide receive intervention from a person trained in ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) their chances of survival increase to 80%. ASIST intervention is even more effective with teens than it is with older adults. For the vast majority of persons suffering from mental illness, effective treatment is possible. We know how to save lives. We know how to treat mental illness. Yet far too many people suffer with no treatment at all because they and their families do not know where to turn.
People whose lives are affected by mental illness deserve appropriate support and quality care. They can live healthy, fulfilling lives.
In the United Church of Christ, at our 2015 General Synod national gathering, a resolution was overwhelmingly adopted to develop a network of churches that are welcoming, inclusive, supportive and engaged (WISE) for mental health. At that meeting, Rev. Alan Johnson of Boulder, Colorado, told delegates about his son’s psychotic break from bipolar disease, his own episode with depression, and his brother’s death by suicide. “The sound of silence about mental illness can be profound,” he declared.
That silence will continue unless we speak up. As a teacher in the United Church of Christ, my silence is inexcusable.
The month of May is not over. I have the rest of this month to speak and advocate. And May comes every year. I have the rest of my life to join with others to encourage congregations to adopt WISE covenants, to support the Mental Health Network, and to become advocates for “all persons with mental illness who are falling through the fraying safety net.”
Research shows that one in four Americans experience some form of mental illness in any given year although the severity of the disorder can vary widely. One in 17 Americans lives with serious and persistent mental illness. That means that every week, when we gather to worship, we are worshiping with victims of mental illness. Our silence increases the stigma and contributes to the discrimination.
Now is a good time to set aside the silence and to speak.
Every year millions of people face the harsh reality of living with a mental illness. The victims of mental illness, along with their families, learn about the stigma associated with mental illness. They learn, often in terrible ways, about the lack of emergency services for those suffering mental illness. They learn that educating the public about mental illness is a long, uphill battle.
Like so many other families whose lives have been affected by mental illness, our family has discovered that effective treatment of mental illness is possible and available for those who are fortunate enough to find services and networks of support. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has become for us a very important organization. Through its programs and our own experiences we have learned that mental health is a critically important part of overall health. The organization has been a lifeline for us of information, advocacy, and networking.
It is through NAMI, however, that I have learned about the growing number of Americans who are experiencing mental health symptoms. The COVID pandemic has not only exacted a toll on the physical health of millions, causing life-altering illness and death. It has also contributed to a sharp rise in mental illness in our communities.
This year’s theme for Mental Health Awareness Month is “Together for Mental Health.” It is a reminder of the need to work together with others to advocate for mental health and for access to adequate mental health care for all people.
Prior to 2020, I spent a lot of time in the emergency rooms of hospitals. As a suicide first responder and suicide survivor support specialist, I was part of a team dispatched by law enforcement to provide support to grieving families. In 2019, the community where I lived dedicated a new state-of-the-art emergency room in our hospital. The treatment area was the result of years of planning and tens of millions of dollars of investment. It was staffed by some of the best trained and best equipped emergency specialists in the nation. It was NOT the place for a person to receive treatment for mental illness. Our community built this tremendously expensive and well equipped emergency room while at the same time, the behavioral health unit of the hospital was across town, had no fully-staffed emergency room - not even a single room, and was full with a waiting list of those seeking treatment. Families needing emergency mental illness treatment often had to drive more than 300 miles to receive care.
Unfortunately that community is not unique. Access to mental health care is denied to millions in our country.
Sadly, mental illness can be fatal. I know that pain and grief first hand from years of being the bearer of the news of suicide to family members and attempting to provide on-going support to them. I know that pain and grief from hundreds of support group meetings. Just last week, the life of a talented and beautiful 16-year-old ended in a state park less than a mile from my home. Yesterday the medical examiner ruled the death a suicide and means hanging. I don’t know the family. I never met the young woman. I cry for their loss. The tragedy is deepened by the knowledge that proper intervention and treatment might have saved her life.
Global evidence-based research has revealed that when people who are contemplating suicide receive intervention from a person trained in ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) their chances of survival increase to 80%. ASIST intervention is even more effective with teens than it is with older adults. For the vast majority of persons suffering from mental illness, effective treatment is possible. We know how to save lives. We know how to treat mental illness. Yet far too many people suffer with no treatment at all because they and their families do not know where to turn.
People whose lives are affected by mental illness deserve appropriate support and quality care. They can live healthy, fulfilling lives.
In the United Church of Christ, at our 2015 General Synod national gathering, a resolution was overwhelmingly adopted to develop a network of churches that are welcoming, inclusive, supportive and engaged (WISE) for mental health. At that meeting, Rev. Alan Johnson of Boulder, Colorado, told delegates about his son’s psychotic break from bipolar disease, his own episode with depression, and his brother’s death by suicide. “The sound of silence about mental illness can be profound,” he declared.
That silence will continue unless we speak up. As a teacher in the United Church of Christ, my silence is inexcusable.
The month of May is not over. I have the rest of this month to speak and advocate. And May comes every year. I have the rest of my life to join with others to encourage congregations to adopt WISE covenants, to support the Mental Health Network, and to become advocates for “all persons with mental illness who are falling through the fraying safety net.”
Research shows that one in four Americans experience some form of mental illness in any given year although the severity of the disorder can vary widely. One in 17 Americans lives with serious and persistent mental illness. That means that every week, when we gather to worship, we are worshiping with victims of mental illness. Our silence increases the stigma and contributes to the discrimination.
Now is a good time to set aside the silence and to speak.
