Mental Health Awareness Month

In a world that often feels overwhelming, it’s easy to get caught up in stress, anxiety, and emotional turmoil. As we recognize Mental Health Awareness Month in May, it’s crucial to focus on the small steps we can all take to protect our mental health.

First, remember you are not alone. Although it can be easy to shut down and isolate, isolation leads to loneliness and is linked to depression, anxiety, and physical health problems. Instead, surround yourself with loving, empathetic friends and members of your community who also understand the complex emotions you are feeling and who can navigate them with you.

If social media or news coverage makes you feel overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to take a break. Constant exposure to negative news or disturbing images can affect your mental health, leading to secondary trauma. It’s okay to step back and prioritize your well-being.

August White (Photo: Courtesy Mental Health Cooperative Memphis)

Embrace your emotions, but don’t be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes our instincts tell us to avoid showing our feelings or admitting their depth. Let yourself know that it is okay to feel whatever emotion comes up in whatever form it takes. It is okay to feel anger, sadness, anxiety, and fear. Be patient with the process.

While healing is certainly not linear, it can often begin with a conversation. Never hesitate to reach out for help if you are unsure how to navigate traumatic events. Counselors, family, a trusted friend, or clergy member should all be a part of your support network. Lean on those you trust and be honest about how you are feeling. Remember, seeking help isn’t a sign of weakness — it’s a sign of strength and self-awareness. It’s okay not to be okay!

Physical exercise can be a powerful tool to improve your mental health. A common misconception of working out and physical exercise is that it’s just a way to improve your physical health. While it is true that physical exercise benefits physical health, it also enhances our mental well-being, having a profoundly positive impact on depression, anxiety, and ADHD. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts your overall mood. Even modest amounts of exercise can make a real difference. A recent study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that running for 15 minutes a day or walking for an hour reduces the risk of major depression by 26 percent. Through the release of endorphins, exercise works as a natural anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, and stress reliever, boosting physical and mental energy and enhancing overall well-being. If you are new to working out, find a time that fits best with your schedule and start small, with a quick 5- to 10-minute walk around the neighborhood.

Practicing being in the present moment can eliminate a negative mind state. Sometimes we can let our minds wander to past, future, or hypothetical situations where we ruminate on things we wish we could do differently or worry about situations we cannot change or predict. Taking time to conscientiously stay in the present moment with a practice called “mindfulness” can stop our minds from going down a path that has no benefits for our mental health. When you feel these trains of thoughts coming, focus your attention on a specially chosen word or set of words, an object, or your breathing. Another way is to focus on the good things in your life. It’s helpful to do this every day, either by thinking about what you are grateful for or writing it down in a journal. These can be big things, such as the support you
have from loved ones, or little things, such as enjoying a nice meal.

Finally, if you or someone you know are seriously considering any form of self-harm, call 988, a national support line. Trained counselors are available to listen, provide support, and offer local resources. One call can save a life and there is professional help for those who need it.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, lonely, or need support, you should not hesitate to reach out to local mental health professionals who are here to help. We must all lean on each other in difficult times. Memphis is vibrant, resilient, and brave. Our community knows the importance of lending a hand to our hurting brothers and sisters. We need to take time to listen, both to ourselves and to others. The small things matter. Conversations with a friend, being honest about our feelings, and reaching out for help are all crucial steps we must take to begin the healing process.

If you need support or guidance, don’t hesitate to seek out resources. Reach out for help; call a trusted friend or a professional. You are not alone.

August White is executive director of Mental Health
Cooperative Memphis.

I experienced my first deep loss at 5 years old — a great-aunt committed suicide. My young mind couldn’t make sense of it. We used to spend afternoons together, taking walks in the neighborhood. Most memories have faded now, but I do recall her smiling and laughing. I could never understand why she chose to end her life. After that day, every time I’d visit or pass that house, I’d envision her outside, wrestling with the idea, and ultimately pulling the trigger. It was a lot for a child’s brain to process.

In my early twenties, I lost three friends to suicide — by hanging and by gun. Later, a person very close to me slit her wrists. I remember receiving the phone call and rushing to the hospital, where she told me, essentially, that she’d failed that time, but I’d eventually have to let her go — she wasn’t meant for this world. In an unbelievable turn of events, after being medically treated, she was sent to jail (please see editor’s note at the end of this article). Not released to go home, to family, to be with friends for encouragement and support. She spent about a month in the county jail before being transferred to a mental health facility and eventually being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Why jail was ever a step in this situation always baffled me — what a place to be when you’re already in such a fragile state. (I’m grateful to report today, all these years later, that she is healthy, happily married, and living a full life.)

These losses and experiences have been on my mind of late, as May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Of course, mental health challenges don’t always lead to suicide or suicidal ideation. They can present in the form of emotional outbursts, isolation, mania, insomnia. Anxiety, depression, substance-abuse disorder, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and post-traumatic stress disorder are among the technical terms for such diagnoses. And many of us have either struggled with one or more of the aforementioned or know someone who has.

There is often a stigma surrounding mental health, which can make it difficult to address. How do you treat yourself if you’re experiencing overwhelming stress or incredibly low lows? Do you reach out to friends or family? Do you go to therapy? Do you consider discussing with a doctor? Do you hold it all in and wait for the storms to pass?

If a loved one expresses anxiety or depression and shares with you stories of their battles, do you lend a sympathetic ear? Or do you tell them in short to buck up, buttercup — “It’s all in your head. You can control that. Just use your willpower, honey. You’re stronger than this.” (Don’t do the latter, please.) Sometimes, a person needs only for you to sit with them in silence, be present alongside their sadness or stresses — not offering solutions, just your attention.

It’s never an easy path to navigate in either situation, whether it’s you or another person going through it. But it’s important to look for signs and symptoms, and address them as soon — and as gently — as possible.

Throughout the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, many people’s mental health took a hit. During the peak and aftermath of Covid, suicide and overdose rates swelled. This could be attributed to heightened instances of domestic violence as people were forced to stay home; loss of income due to society shutdown; increased anxiety and depression amid endless news reports and statistics, and confusion and fear of the virus. We experienced collective trauma, leading to loneliness and even cognitive and behavioral changes that some have yet to recover from. And while, in the grand scheme, the worst of that is behind us, many are still finding it difficult to engage in the same ways they did pre-pandemic.

We all handle life’s challenges differently. We carry our own traumas. No two brains function the same when it comes to confronting or working to overcome mental health crises.

Think of your own internal landscapes, how they ebb and flow, and use this knowledge when interacting with others. You never know what weight someone’s carrying with them.

If you find yourself in a dark place today, remember that your success rate for making it through tough days so far is 100 percent. Hang on, hang in.

You are enough. You are worthy of love. You are never a burden. And there are many beautiful tomorrows — sunrises, sunsets, smiles, handshakes, hugs, hot meals, cool breezes, soft blankets, so many lovely things — waiting for you around this bend.

Help is available 24/7 if you need it. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

*Editor’s note: Since publishing this article, it has come to our attention that the person who attempted suicide had their civil rights violated by being detained. Attempted suicide is not illegal in the United States.