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How to Get Involved During Mental Health Awareness Week

In 1990, the U.S. Congress established the Mental Illness Awareness Week. Since then, the event has been taking place every first full week of October. The goal is to increase mental health awareness.

For starters, mental health is a major issue in the country. About 50 percent of all Americans will experience a mental illness at least once in their lifetime.

If you or someone close to you has suffered or is suffering a mental health condition, you know have severely it can affect your lives. This is probably the reason you want to get involved during mental health awareness week.

But how can you get involved in an impactful way?

Donate to Mental Health Organizations

Across the country, there are thousands of non-profit organizations providing free mental health services. Because these organizations aren’t out to make a profit, they rely on donations and government grants to fund their operations. However, these donations and grants are never enough.

This is why donating to these organizations is an ideal way to get involved during Mental Health Awareness Week. You can select one organization to donate to every year or you can make random donations to various organizations.

And if you’re still got more resources to give, you can extend your generosity to for-profit mental health treatment centers in your community.

Volunteer

In most communities, there’s usually a flurry of activities during Mental Health Awareness Week. You’ll see government agencies and non-governmental organizations holding awareness events.

Why not volunteer and offer physical service?

To hold a mental health event, the organizer needs to set up tents and chairs, provide food and drinks to attendants, and whatnot. This means hiring lots of laborers, who must be paid at the end of the day. Lending your physical service can make a big difference in these events.

Besides offering physical labor, there are several other ways to volunteer, depending on the needs of the organization. If you run a printing business, for instance, you can volunteer to print the organization’s brochures and newsletters for the mental health awareness week.

Share Your Story

Do you have a personal story of mental illness and how you overcame? Your story could inspire someone who’s going through the same condition.

Indeed, telling your story is one of the most impactful ways to get involved. Most people suffering mental illness have lost hope; they’re facing intense social stigma and basically struggling to survive. You story could be the awakening they need. It could be what they need to take action and get treatment.

Like volunteering, there are a number of ways to share your story.

The obvious way is to tell it in person, in front of an audience of people suffering mental illness. However, if public speaking isn’t your thing, you could write it and have it published in mental health magazines and blogs.

You could even start a podcast on the subject.

Get Involved During Mental Health Awareness Week

The Mental Health Awareness Week serves as a national platform for the country to come together and fight mental illness. In your own little ways, such as the ones fleshed out in this article, you can also get involved and touch a life.

Keep reading our blog for more on mental health and wellness.