Every year, May 1st marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month, which is symbolized by the color green. Green represents renewal and recovery, exactly what this month is meant to provide for everyone’s individual mental health journey. Even though we give the month of May this title, it does not mean that it is the only month that it is important to discuss emotional well-being. Awareness months are meant to normalize that sometimes we may be confused by our own emotions, and to work to break the stigma around asking for help. If you or someone you know needs help, it is important to reach out and address how you feel to work through emotions that might be overwhelming at times.
Just like we all have physical health, we all have mental health as well. Emotional health refers to having appropriate emotional responses to situations, not never having negative feelings. Understanding the appropriate amount of emotion means knowing that we might not always be in a positive mindset, but that we can respond to a situation accordingly and in a way that we can manage. Learning to name the things we feel can help us understand what we are dealing with and the things in our environment that might be leading to those feelings, good or bad. Instead of feeling personal judgment if you are unsure about what you are feeling, be curious about why and how you are feeling these emotions.
Some common misconceptions regarding mental health include thinking that we have to have an extreme issue or medically diagnosed “disease” to be able to seek help. Thinking of this in relation to physical sickness, mental health also begins with something small until a larger problem may arise. Paying attention to these smaller signs and learning techniques that help you calm your nervous system are perfectly beneficial solutions that don’t require medical advice. Another misconception is that “admitting you have a problem” makes you less than others since you are admitting that you can’t handle your emotions, as everyone else can. The practice of self-compassion refers to thinking about how you speak to other people in stressful or traumatic moments and doing that with yourself. You are not less than for having moments in which things may not feel as grounded or secure as you would like. Even more so today, with the presence of social media, we can easily self-diagnose ourselves and think that something deeper is wrong with us, rather than that we just have feelings that have ups and downs.
There is never a perfect time to talk about mental health or decide to begin working with new strategies; you just have to begin. Giving yourself grace to learn and adopt these practices is important for them to stick and make an impact. Trying to work towards a mindset of resilience instead of happiness or perfection is important since this journey is not about thinking that certain emotions are good or bad. It is more about managing our feelings and finding strategies to help in the moments where we feel emotions a little bit more than we might be able to handle.
A big thank you to Mrs. DeCapite for sharing many of the resources that have helped so many girls in our NDP community and for much of the knowledge included in this article. Be on the lookout for her emails about Mental Health Month information and activities on campus. The counseling department is always available if you or someone you know needs guidance or help during your own mental health journey.