May is designated as “Mental Health Awareness Month”, though like most proclamations, the awareness in question should be every month of the year. The desire is to raise awareness of the impact traumas have on our physical, emotional, and mental well-being, including children, families, and communities.

Mental Health Month provides a valuable opportunity to celebrate many considerable advances, both in attitudes and approaches, made in promoting mental health and increasing the public’s knowledge that effective resources are increasingly available.

In our society, it has often been difficult to convey the simple message that recognizing our psychological well-being is as important as tending to our medical health. No one questions medical intervention for a broken arm or diabetes, tending to our own psychological and emotional needs has faced resistance in communities, cultures, and even religious and professional institutions. It is increasingly obvious to many that our own health, productivity, and happiness benefits the individual as well society.

One reason May is recognized as Mental Health Month is to make clear that.there is still much work to be done. Sadly, many people aren’t exposed to mental health issues until they are directly impacted by a tragedy such as suicide, mental breakdowns, or debilitating depression. At AMR Therapy, Mental Health Month provides us yet another opportunity to reach out, to promote more positive, proactive approaches to treating mental illness.