The last full week of Mental Health Awareness Month is coming to a close. Each year, mental health advocates launch campaigns to educate and advocate for mental health disorders and treatment options.
Some of our favorite campaigns this month included the #1in4 and #1in5 tags on Instagram and Twitter and Child Mind Institute’s #MyYoungerSelf video series. This video series featured a different public figure each day who spoke about their own experiences with mental health issues as a child. (See Emma Stone above.)
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates that 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental health issues. While such disorders are quite common, stigma surrounding mental illness and treatment is often an obstacle for those in need of support.
Mental Health Facts
- 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience a mental illness in a given year.
- 1 in 5 teens experience a severe mental disorder during their life.
- Psychiatric disorders are more prevalent in children and teens than asthma and peanut allergies.
- 18% of adults in the U.S. have experienced an anxiety disorder.
- 16 million adults in the U.S. have had one or more major depressive episodes in the past year.
- 1 in 10 teens experience anxiety disorder.
- 12.5% of teens have had a major depressive episode in the past year.
- Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. and the third leading cause of death for people aged 10-24.
- 90% of children who die by suicide have a mental health condition.
- It is estimated that as many as two-thirds of children and teens with a mental health disorder do not receive treatment.
Blueprint Mental Health & Mental Health Awareness
At Blueprint Mental Health, our goal is to provide skills education to not only our clients but to the community at large. We offer presentations for a variety of audiences on Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), coping skills, and mindfulness. These presentations can help caregivers support those experiencing mental health issues, help individuals manage their own symptoms of stress or anxiety, and increase awareness amount treatment options.
For more information on Blueprint Mental Health, call (908) 256-6965 or e-mail info@blueprintmentalhealth.com.
Image attribution: (Top left) Child Mind Institute, speakupforkids.org; (Top right) @kristenanniebell Instagram