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- May is Mental Health Awareness Month, reminding the public that mental health is as important as physical health.
- Stigma surrounding mental health can be reduced through education and open conversation.
- NAMI Fond du Lac County offers support and resources for individuals and families affected by mental illness.
- Self-care practices and therapy are crucial for maintaining mental well-being.
FOND DU LAC – May is Mental Health Awareness Month, promoting mental wellness with a reminder that one in four people live with a mental illness and you never know what the person next to you is going through, according to the Mental Health Foundation.
Sue Mitchell Metz, executive coordinator for National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Fond du Lac County, said mental health is just as important as physical health, and awareness and education helps reduce the stigma around the topic and lets people know they’re not alone.
She started advocating for mental health awareness and suicide prevention and volunteering with NAMI after her son died by suicide. At the time, resources on the topic were hard to find.
The phrase “mental illness” encompasses many diagnoses that each individual experiences differently, according to NAMI Fond du Lac County. They can affect people regardless of age, race, religion or income, but education, support and advocacy go a long way for recovery and destigmatizing mental health.
Mental health is not a forbidden subject
Mitchell Metz said many people live with a mental illness in silence because of the stigma surrounding the subject of mental health. However, education on the topic can release that stigma.
In presentations, she likes to make a comparison to “jump rope for heart” elementary school programs that teach children that the heart is an organ we need to take care of. By exercising, eating right, sleeping and doing other things that are good for our body, our hearts are going to be healthier.
“So in my mind, if we start teaching them in kindergarten that the brain is an organ just like the heart, let’s talk about brain health just like we talk about heart health,” she said.
She added that sometimes people hear the words “mental health” and think it doesn’t apply to them, but if you have a brain, you have mental health. While not everyone has a mental illness, it’s important to support those who do, so that seeking help and getting treatment is as normalized as seeking a cardiologist for heart health.
A similar stigma that arises is the assumption that someone living with a mental illness cannot lead a productive life or work in a field they want to be in. Mitchell Metz uses herself as an example of someone diagnosed with severe anxiety, severe depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complicated grief who has an associate degree, a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees.
“With proper treatment, proper diagnosis, people can live a very productive life,” she said.
How do we take care of our mental health?
Self care is a widely used term, and while it’s commonly associated with practices like yoga and journaling, it can also involve being out in nature or connecting with hobbies, such as reading or music.
“It’s taking that time to remove yourself from everything around you and be able to ground yourself in the moment,” Mitchell Metz said. “Self care is for yourself, so it’s different for everybody.”
Mitchell Metz said for mental illness, the first measure to take should be therapy. Depending on the diagnosis, this can be cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy or even eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, which helps in processing traumatic memories.
Medication is another treatment, and despite a common belief that someone with a diagnosis needs to be on medication, that choice is up to the individual. Many people find therapy alone is helpful or that it helps them lower their doses, as long as they do the work, Mitchell Metz said.
“Just like if you break your leg and you’re in a cast for weeks and then you have to have physical therapy to regain that strength, it’s the same thing with therapy,” she said. “You have to work at it.”
Safe language goes a long way for advocacy
One of the ways to help destigmatize mental health this month is to pay attention to how mental health is talked about in day-to-day conversations and in entertainment media.
A phrase like “Mother Nature is so schizophrenic” — in reference to Wisconsin weather being 30 degrees one day and 80 degrees the next — may not be intended as harmful, but someone in that conversation could be living with schizophrenia or have a loved one with it, Mitchell Metz said. As a result, they may not be willing to open up about it.
Because of depictions in various forms of media, many also believe people with mental illnesses are violent. However, only about 3% of individuals with a mental illness have a violent tendency, often a result of not getting the appropriate treatment, Mitchell Metz said.
Local NAMI resources include peer groups, various events
NAMI Fond du Lac operates as a local affiliate of NAMI, empowering people in the area with support, education and outreach, whether they are living with a mental illness or have a loved one living with one. One of the ways the organization accomplishes this is through free support groups.
The Peer Support Group is a monthly meeting for people that associate with having a mental illness — a diagnosis is not required. A facilitator who identifies with having a mental illness leads a roundtable with education and discussion ending with some kind of positive closing.
Similarly, the Family Support Group goes through the same process, but welcomes anyone who has a loved one living with a mental illness, whether they’re a family member or friend.
The organization also just finished its most recent Hearts + Minds program, a five-week wellness education program that combines mental and physical health management with topics such as nutrition, exercise and setting goals.
Throughout the rest of this month, NAMI Fond du Lac County will have resource tables at the Fond du Lac Public Library, 32 Sheboygan St.; the Fond du Lac Family YMCA, 90 W. Second St.; and Community Medical Services, 23 W. Scott St.
Crisis resources include the National Suicide Hotline, available by calling or texting 988; the National Suicide Texting Hotline, available by texting HELP or CONNECT to 741741; and the Fond du Lac County Crisis Intervention line at 920-929-3535.
For more about NAMI Fond du Lac County programs and resources, visit namifonddulac.org.
Daphne Lemke is the Streetwise reporter for the Fond du Lac Reporter. Contact her at dlemke@gannett.com.