Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a national observance started in 1949 by Mental Health America to bring attention to the importance of mental wellbeing. Across the country, individuals and organizations step up to raise awareness of and help address the challenges faced by people living with mental health conditions.

Why is Mental Health Awareness Important?

Despite recent strides in how our society approaches mental wellbeing, many Americans still don’t have access to the high-quality, comprehensive treatment and care they need. Just take a look at some of the staggering data about mental health in the United States:

• 1 in 5S. adults experience mental illness each year.
• Only 2%of U.S. adults with mental illness received treatment in 2021.
• 1 in 20S. adults experience serious mental illness each year.
• Only 4%of U.S. adults with serious mental illness received treatment in 2021.
• 1 in 6S. youth have a mental health condition, but only half receive treatment.
• 50%of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24.

May is a time to raise awareness of and reduce the stigma surrounding behavioral health issues, as well as highlighting the ways how mental illness and addiction can affect all of us – patients, providers, families, and our society at large.