May has been the national awareness month for mental health since 1949. While people may have celebrated this month before, in the past three years Watertown has tried to make it much more of a community awareness month. This has become a priority as we recognize that mental health is something that we need to raise awareness about, so that we can help reduce and eventually end the negative stigma around it.
Some might ask why mental health is so important. Two out of five adults report symptoms of anxiety or depression. The fact is that everyone has mental health; there are good days, bad days, and sometime just days. Your mental health is continuously moving on a spectrum and different events can affect your mental health. Where a person is born, lives, learns, works, plays, and gathers, as well as their economic stability and social connections, can all be a part of someone’s mental health as well. The more these factors work in your favor means you are more likely to have better mental well-being. However, when it seems like the world is working against you, your mental health can suffer.
Awareness about mental health is so important, to let people know they are not alone, to give them the resources they may need. We encourage individuals and business to make available any resources they have for the public or for their employees. Place it where it is easy to find. Have conversations about mental health with your coworker, friends, and family. Participate in mental health groups, conversations, self-care/ stress relief activities, or do some checking into what resources are available in the community.
May Activities
1) Self-care challenge! Great creative while showing your favorite ways to practice self-care or something positive for your mental health. Post by 8 am on May 15 for a chance to win Chamber Bucks.
Click to learn more.
2) Don’t forget that on May 24th, 2023 we are going to be turning the town GREEN! Everyone is encouraged to wear green to show your support for mental health awareness. Encourage the people around you to wear green as well to start the conversation about mental health. Download flyer.
If you or a loved one is in crisis please call, text or chat the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988. In an emergency call 911.