If you have a brain, mental health matters

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and I am pumped to talk about mental health all month long. Yep, I said PUMPED. Not the word choice you’d expect with the topic of mental health? I get it. But here’s why I’m so excited.

Whether or not you are part of the 20% of U.S. adults with mental illness (hand raised), we are all going to experience sh*t in our lives: Stress. Conflict. Arguments. Trauma. Insecurity. All of these things will involve our brain. Emotions arise from our brain. Our thoughts and communication stems from the brain. That’s why ‘if you have a brain, mental health matters!’

If all of this stuff involves our brain, why wouldn’t we do more to foster and care for our brain/mind?!?! Like going to therapy? Or feeling and exploring emotions? Most likely: stigma, unawareness regarding resources, and the lack of access to mental health support due to financial restraints, racial inequities, etc. 

And, yet despite these challenges, I am excited. Why? Because we can CHANGE this. There are tools to help ourselves and help each other. If you’re on Instagram, follow me @belovedbody where I’ll be sharing things that have helped me, plus great resources from others. 

But if you don’t have Instagram or just want to dive right in, here are some resources: 

Mental Health Stats

• 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with mental illness.
• In 2019, 9.5% of adults received counseling or therapy from a mental health professional
• Women were more likely to receive mental health treatment than men

Kids & Mental Health

• Cosmic Kids – “Mental Health Superpowers” kit, Yoga for Anxiety, Mindfulness videos/exercises
• Big Life Journal – Weekly email with tips, Journal, Podcast for Kids – Instagram & Facebook
• Sources of Strength: Youth suicide prevention program – Instagram & Facebook

Kids & Body Image

• “Yes, Your Daughter Just Called Herself Fat” from the Girl Scouts
• Body image articles from A Mighty Girl
• The Full Bloom Project

Therapy & Other Self-Help Resources

• My lessons from therapy
• Fascinating books about therapy (that read like fiction): Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and Group 
• Budget-friendly mental health courses (I’m signed up for the perfectionism class and want to purchase the communication/boundaries one, too!)
• Therapy matching services and/or online therapy: Better Help, Two Chairs. I know there are other companies out there, but either I or someone I know has used the two above.
• ‘Therapy is cool’ merchandise
• Self care is for everyone merchandise

Helpful Accounts on Social Media

• Holistically Grace – Facebook & Instagram
• Tiffany Roe – Instagram & Podcast
• The Loveland Foundation – Instagram & Facebook

What do you do to help your mental health? Share in the comments so we can all learn from each other!