Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and this past weekend Lansdale played host to an amazing Mental Health Awareness event for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI partnered with Round Guys Brewing, Well Crafted, Lansdale Tavern and Stove & Tap in a new Hops for Hope fundraiser that allowed residents to enjoy a beer while learning about the realities of dealing with mental illness and how it impacts a person’s everyday life and the lives of those around them.
Locally, as noted in previous musings, Lansdale has witnessed an 80% year-over-year increase in the number of mental health assistance calls in our community. As mayor, I have been working with Lansdale Police Department and Montgomery County Department of Health to think of new and different ways of approaching our response to this growing challenge. We are actively working with mental health professionals in proactively planned co-response units to seek out those who have made mental health calls to police before to ensure they are getting access to the help they need and, if they aren’t, how we can help them going forward.
Obviously, some of this is related to the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and the stress put upon all of us as we continue to try and find our way out of this difficult situation. However, pandemic aside, our world is getting more complicated, more connected and more nuanced every passing month. Just keeping pace with the rapid speed of change is enough to bring on depression, anxiety and a multitude of other negative emotions.
And that is ok!
I cannot say this enough: it is normal to struggle with mental health. In February 2021 alone, almost 40% of Pennsylvania residents reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, with more than 25% being unable to find the help they felt they needed. Mental health is a critical component of our physical health and during the pandemic there have been many stories about how people are getting into better physical condition, but we also need to focus on our mental health to ensure we are truly healthy and living our best lives.
Mental health management is for all of us. Everyone is experiencing high levels of stress right now and we all need to be engaged in maintaining our mental health. If you, or someone you know, is experiencing the symptoms found here, please reach out and ask to speak to someone. Over 1.8 million people in Pennsylvania struggle with the same challenges every day and every. single. person. knows someone who is actively managing their mental health needs and could use the support.
Mental health challenges are not going away, and we have a long way to go in normalizing it in our society and our culture. However, if the event this past weekend highlighted anything, it was that there is hope. Hope in that people are becoming more comfortable sharing their experiences and letting others know they are not alone, hope in that services are becoming more widely available to those looking for them, and hope in the changes we are making in the way we react and respond to mental health in our community.
If you need mental health assistance, or are just looking for a place to begin, please contact the NAMI HelpLine at 800-950-6264 or email info@nami.org.