May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

May is Mental Health Awareness Month:  How to Get Mental Health Help

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Everyone has mental health! This designation for May was begun in 1949 by Mental Health America. Their theme this year is “Tools 2 Thrive.” Mental Health America provides resources to improve personal mental health and increase resiliency.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) promotes the theme “You Are Not Alone.” NAMI states that the purpose of this theme is to “focus on the healing value of connecting in safe ways, prioritizing mental health and acknowledging that it’s okay to not be okay.”

In Canada, Mental Health Week 2021 Is May 3-9. This year’s theme is “Name it, don’t numb it.”

In the UK, Mental Health Awareness Week is designated May 10-16 in 2021. The 2021 theme is “Nature.” A strong connection to the natural world is good for anyone’s psychological and emotional health.

Did you know that one in five US adults and one in six US youth and teens will experience a mental illness in any given year? It is a sad statistic that less than half of them will receive any treatment. One in five homeless people in the US have a serious mental health condition. Over a third of incarcerated adults and nearly three-quarters of youth in the juvenile justice system have been diagnosed with a mental illness.

Anyone who is affected by mental illness, including family members, coworkers and friends of those directly affected, should receive appropriate support without stigma. With proper care, those struggling with mental illness can achieve a high quality of life and be happy and fulfilled. Nobody needs to feel alone.

Please check out the informative poster sets on Virtual Ability’s Healthinfo Island during May to learn more about mental illness and the resources available. You can teleport to any of the eight displays and exhibits using the SLURLs below. Click on the poster with the same name as the title of the poster set to receive a notecard of all the text of the posters plus descriptions of the images. If you click each poster, you will get a message with additional information and live links.

Mental Health Awareness Month: How to Get Mental Health Help
    SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/111/81/24

Minority Mental Health Equity
    SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/21/62/32

Borderline Personality Disorder
    SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/99/37/26

Dementia
    SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/51/27/28

Bipolar Disorder
    SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/25/24/30

Basic Facts About Depression
    SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/196/156/23

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
    SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/187/181/24

Music and Mental Health
    SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/172/154/22