May is Mental Health Month

Mental Health Month has been observed in May for the past 61 years. To learn more about the focus of different mental health agencies please continue.

The theme this year for the National Mental Health Association is “Live Your Life Well.”  Life brings daily challenges at home, on the job, in school or our communities.  There are effective tools available to help us cope and improve our health and wellness. 
Their website, http://www.nmha.org/go/may , offers fact sheets on many helpful areas, such as:

• Are You Feeling Stressed Out?
• Parenting During Tough Economic Times
• Depression:  Know the Signs
• Stress:  Know the Signs
• Staying Well When You Have a Mental Health Condition
• Helping Children Grow Up Healthy
• Taking Care of an Aging Parent
• Coping with the Stress of Ongoing Military Operations

The National Institute of Mental Health is emphasizing “Child and Adolescent Mental Health” this month. Many mental disorders have their beginnings in childhood or adolescence.  A recent survey found that 13% of children, ages 8 to 15, had at least one mental disorder.  This is a rate that is comparable to diabetes, asthma or other childhood diseases.  For information on autism, ADHD, depression and other issues of childhood and adolescence, visit http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/child-and-adolescent-mental-health/index.shtml.