Somewhere this month you may hear a reference to Mental Health Month. Already, I've answered a few queries about whether there's such an observance in T&T and how are "we" involved.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the USA. And heartened by President Barack Obama's statement, I posted his proclamation, which prompted questions. Then I noticed a few references to the May campaign as though it's a local observance and became disquieted.
I am all for education. My apprehension comes where I'm imagining some zealot rushing to declare a month of observances here where we're so far behind, that we need to designate every month a mental health awareness month.
And yes, I'm advocating change, but I'm petitioning for an holistic approach to mental health/wellness. We've done sufficient cosmetics and tokenism for the while with our half-hearted observances and much academic postulations on a topic here and there. We need more...better, actually.
There is context to the US's May month observations that goes back to over 100 years of investiture and investment by government, charities/non-profits, and the like, which I thought I'd share here to encourage our progress from the appropriate direction.
Since 1949, the US has observed in Mental Health Awareness Month in May. Founded in 1909, Mental Health America (MHA) is the leading community-based non-profit that has been at the forefront of such observations.
By the time a mental health week was declared, MHA had already participated in legislative changes, international congresses, and the effects/trauma of World War I, and had gone through a few name changes. As a result of MHA's advocacy, the US's National Mental Health Act (1946) was passed and America created its National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). NIMH is "the federal agency that conducts and supports research that seeks to understand, treat, and prevent mental illness," (www.mentalhealthamerica.net/our-history).
For me, while advocating for government's leadership for better mental healthcare, when the leader of the free world makes such a bold plea he signals a hope that I carry deep inside. I cannot resist sharing.
Obama's statement says, "Despite how common it is to experience severe psychological distress, substance use problems, and mental illness, there is still considerable stigma associated with mental health treatment. This month, we must bring mental illness out of the shadows and encourage treatment for those who might benefit–it is our shared responsibility to recognise the signs of psychological and emotional distress and to support those in need."
He continued, "We must strive to remove the stigma around mental illness and its treatment, overcome fear and misunderstanding, and make sure all those dealing with a mental health issue know they are not alone. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness–taking action to help yourself is a sign of strength."
Then he called upon "citizens, government agencies, organisations, health care providers, and research institutions to raise mental health awareness and continue helping Americans live longer, healthier lives."
But Obama's statement was set in motion more than a century ago and harks back to a piece of US history that I've only just come upon, when Clifford W Beers, a former psychiatric patient established Mental Health America.
The history of MHA is the story of one person who turned a personal struggle with mental illness into a national movement and of the millions of others who came together to fulfill his vision.
The story says, "During his stays in public and private institutions, Beers witnessed and was subjected to horrible abuse. From these experiences, Beers set into motion a reform movement.
"Around the turn of the 20th Century, Beers, a graduate of Yale College and a Wall Street financier, suffered his first episode of bipolar disorder following the illness and death of his brother. In the throes of his illness, Beers attempted to take his own life by jumping out a third story window. Seriously injured but still alive, Beers ended up in public and private hospitals in Connecticut for the next three years."
Having witnessed the cruel and inhumane treatment people with mental illnesses received, he having been placed in a straightjacket for 21 consecutive nights, Beers, "used his experience and the abuse he witnessed to motivate him to act."
In 1908, he published his autobiography, A Mind That Found Itself, which "roused the nation to the plight of people with mental illnesses." In 1909, "Beers, along with philosopher William James and psychiatrist Adolf Meyer, created the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, known today as Mental Health America."
That's the historicity in which Mental Health Awareness Month finds its origin. It's the kind of chronicle, which should inform the direction we take towards a comprehensive overview of mental health in T&T before we declare a month of anything. Just saying.
�2 See: mentalhealthamerica.net/our-history. �2 Caroline C Ravello is a strategic communications professional and media practitioner with over 30 years of proficient experience. She has been living/thriving with mental health issues for over 35 years.