May is Mental Health Awareness Month! During this month, we will continue to encourage people to share their stories about mental health. Most people will experience a mental health issue at some point during their lifetimes, so it’s important to eliminate the stigma so that people feel unjudged by seeking treatment. Join us in saying #BreakTheStigma! Below are some things you can do to help!
Share information locally
- Ask wellness-oriented businesses like your local gym, yoga studio, or health food store to put up the screening poster from this toolkit.
- Reach out to your personal and professional contacts to encourage them to download this toolkit and share its resources with their customers and employees through newsletters and social media.
- Think about other groups in your community that could benefit from downloading the Tools 2 Thrive toolkit – doctors’ offices, schools, churches, synagogues, and other religious gathering places are a good start. You can be a tremendous help!
- Link posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms to the Mental Health Month site, so people can access the different Tools 2 Thrive webpages.
- Share the hotline numbers, so people in need can get help:
- Text “MHA” to 741741 or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a trained crisis counselor 24/7, 365 days a year.
- Para hispanohablantes llame al 1-888-628-9454.
- Deaf & hard of hearing: TTY users, use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 1-800-273-8255
Help spread the word about screening
- Put MHA’s screening site in the bio of your Instagram profile. For example, say “Check up on your mental health at the link below” and link to MHAscreening.org in the website blank.
- Take a screening at MHAscreening.org and share that you “took a check-up from the neck up” – encourage others to do the same.
Start a Facebook, Twitch, or Instagram fundraiser
- Share why mental health matters to you or share your screening story.
- Share why MHA’s peers program, which combats loneliness and isolation, is important.
- Incorporate mental health fast facts into your fundraiser.
- Start an online fundraiser in honor of a loved one.
- Call or email your elected officials and let them know why you think mental health should be a priority.
- Get in touch with your U.S. senators.
- Contact your representative.
- Check out MHA’s most recent State of Mental Health in America report and find out where your state ranks and share with your elected officials.
Get your employer involved
- Let them know that May is Mental Health Month.
- Share why mental health should be a priority in the workplace for supervisors.
- Suggest they share information in company wide communications, and put up the posters from this toolkit in breakrooms and other common spaces.
- Help bring a wellness or mental health speaker to your workplace by contacting your local MHA affiliate.
Share your story
- Post on social media.
- Write something for listservs you are a part of, alumni newsletters, blogs, students newspapers – your story really does matter! And people want to hear it!
- Contact your local TV station or student TV station and share your mental health story.
- Share your experience with us, on our new Share Your Story page.
Reach out individually
- Think about who you interact with on a daily basis that would find this information useful for themselves or others.
- Think about your friends or family who you have been wanting to start a conversation with. Mental Health Month is the perfect time to share.
