Mental Health Awareness Month | Resources
May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
While I don't feel super qualified to write about mental health, I also feel I need to talk about it more now than ever. When something hits so close to home, it makes you want to learn, speak and help as much as possible.
Last month we lost a family member by suicide.
It still doesn't seem real. I'm not sure it will ever really feel real. For loved ones it is one of the most devastating, confusing and heartbreaking things to try and process and go through.
We all struggle at times in our life, some more than others.
And it's hard because often, you never quite know what's going on in someone's life and what they might be struggling with.
But I do know that we cannot do this life alone. We need others to walk through life with us, to help us when times are hard, and to lean on when we need extra support.
We all need to work on mental health, yet it can look so different for everyone.
I heard Dr. Amen say once that he prefers the term "Brain health."
That's a great term... "brain health." It's something we can all connect to and should all continually strive to work on.
Just like we should work on our physical and spiritual health, we must work on our brain health.
Like Dr. Amen says...
our thoughts create feelings,
our feelings determine our behaviors,
and our behavior affects the outcome.
The mind is powerful, and we should all work hard to keep ours as strong as possible.
Again, I'm not an expert, so I can only speak from my own experience, but here is what I like to do to work on my brain health.
talk to my loved ones (family & friends)
do devotionals and read the Bible
journal
listen to music
get up and move (a walk, a workout)
work on hobbies or new projects
get fresh air and sunlight
read
ground yourself (literally... put your feet on the earth)
supplements when needed
I know these are simple things, but these are what help me with my mental or brain health. These are simple things that I can do regularly.
We all struggle with different things in our lives.
Please find the people that you can talk to and lean on. This could look like family or friends, church family, or a therapist.
We were not made to do this life alone; we need each other.
If you or someone you know are struggling, please reach out to someone.
Listed below are some great resources to get you started:
BetterHelp
Doctor Amen
National Suicide Prevention Hotline
Call 1-800-273-8255; En español 1-888-628-9454
Crisis Text Line
Text "HELLO" to 741741
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention