President Obama's Focus for May: Mental Health Awareness and Treatment

“Despite great strides in our understanding of mental illness and vast improvements in the dialogue surrounding it, too many still suffer in silence,” President Barack Obama states in his April 30th proclamation. In proclaiming May 2014 as National Mental Health Awareness Month, President Obama seeks to rally the country in “reaffirm[ing] our commitment to building our understanding of mental illness, increasing access to treatment, and ensuring those who are strugglign to know they are not alone.”

The NNDC is encouraged by the president’s vocal support of mental health awareness campaigns, as well as his effort to make mental health care as accessible as other forms of medical treatment. The NNDC agrees with the statement that we, as a society, “too often think about mental health differently from other forms of health. Yet like any disease, mental illnesses can be treated – and without help, they grow worse.”

If you are wondering what you can do to participate in mental health awareness month, here are some steps you can take:

• If you are a sufferer of depression or another mood disorder and haven’t yet sought treatment, now is the time to take the first step. Click here to learn more about treatment referrals by state.
• If you know someone who may be suffering from an “invisible illness,” show them support this month by doing your part to combat stigma.
• If you would like to support mental health research, make a donation to the National Network of Depression Centers by following this link.

You can read the full text of President Obama’s proclamation here.