Mental Health Awareness Month : The History and Impact

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to offer information that may help those who are coping with mental health illnesses and to increase awareness of the impact that mental health can have on one's general well-being.

In 2024, Mental Health Awareness Month will be observed by a number of groups that support mental health services and awareness. For instance, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has developed the "Take the Moment" campaign to promote compassion, comprehension, and candid discussions about mental health.³ A "Where to Start" campaign by Mental Health America will be launched in the interim, emphasizing the importance of locating resources, creating coping mechanisms, and speaking up for oneself and your community.³ These and other groups will be sharing content on social media, providing information, and occasionally hosting events.

Since medical professionals have realized how common mental health illnesses are, there has been a greater conversation on mental health in recent decades. More over one-fifth of American people, or 22.8% of them, reported having a mental illness in 2021, according to NAMI.· In the US, 5.5% of adults had a major mental disease in that same year. In 2021, only 47.2% of adults with mental illness received treatment, despite these statistics.

One goal of Mental Health Awareness Month is to lessen the stigma associated with mental illness. By recognizing the various ways that mental illness can impact people and the ways that patients, friends, loved ones, and medical professionals can support one another, it is hoped to promote treatment. In the process, this can lower overall health care expenditures and enhance patient quality of life while also increasing health care value. How did Mental Health Awareness Month come to be, and what effect did it have?

An Overview of Mental Health Awareness Month's Past

In an effort to raise awareness of mental health issues and wellness, May was initially declared as Mental Health Awareness Month in 1949.⁴ But it took decades for this to happen. Mental Health America, which was created in 1908, was the organization that first acknowledged Mental Health Awareness Month. The organization was started by novelist Clifford Beers, who had written about his experiences with mental health issues and the unsatisfactory treatments he had at several facilities. The organization was formerly known as the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene.

As the country got ready to enter World War I, the US Surgeon General ordered Mental Health America to develop a mental health program, which the Army and Navy then drafted into service. By the 1930s, when more than 3,000 individuals gathered in Washington, D.C. for the First International Congress of Mental Hygiene, Mental Health America's influence had only grown.

In a special letter to Congress in 1945, President Harry Truman called for increased funding and study on mental health issues in addition to recommending a comprehensive health program. Finally, in 1946, Truman signed the National Mental Health Act, which called for the creation of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).In 1949, the National Institute of Health officially founded the NIMH, coinciding with the inaugural Mental Health Awareness Month.

In the 1990s, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a new government organization dedicated to mental health, was also established¸ With NIMH focusing on research, SAMHSA would focus on service availability for those battling with addiction and mental illness.

Researchers have gained additional insight into the nature and frequency of mental diseases because to these and other organizations that support mental health services and research. According to estimates from the World Health Organization, 970 million people worldwide suffered from a mental illness in 2019.

We now have a better understanding of the prevalence of mental health issues as well as how they impact individuals and others around them thanks to research. According to NAMI, the risk of developing cardiovascular and metabolic disorders is twice as high for individuals with significant mental illnesses than for the general population, and it is 40% higher for those with depression.· Significant depressive symptoms in high school increase the likelihood of dropping out by over twice as much, and family caregivers of individuals with mental health disorders provide unpaid care for their loved ones for an average of 32 hours per week. There is also an economic cost; according to NAMI, Americans lose $193.2 billion in wages each year as a result of severe mental illness.

Raising awareness and conducting research may help to lessen the stigma associated with getting treatment for mental illness. The percentage of persons who reported receiving mental health treatment in the previous 12 months in the National Health Interview survey increased from 19.2% to 21.6% between 2019 and 2021, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).³² In people between the ages of 18 and 44, the increase was much more noticeable, rising from 18.5% to 23.2% during that time. The term "treatment" was defined as either or both of receiving mental health counseling or therapy and taking prescription medication.

Mental Health Awareness Month's Effects

Research, legislation, and public awareness have accelerated the cause in the decades since Mental Health Awareness Month was first established. In 1949, Mental Health America launched a one-week awareness campaign that was later extended to include the full month of May. Even so, the duration has increased.

In the 1950s, a number of laws pertaining to mental health were passed with assistance from the NIMH. The Health Amendments Act of 1956 empowered NIMH to give funding for mental health-related projects, increasing the institute's involvement in community-based initiatives. The Mental Health Study Act of 1955 called for increased research into mental illness. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson both advocated for further research on social issues in the 1960s, with mental health issues being the most pressing. Notably, the Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act was passed into law by President Kennedy in 1963.

Subsequently, Mental Health America took part in a lawsuit that resulted in the release of $52 million that Congress had approved for community mental health facilities after it was impounded in 1973.A year later, the group was successful in getting a question concerning mental illness history removed from federal government employee forms.

As money, research, and awareness grew, more organizations focused on mental health emerged. North America's 59 family support groups united to form the National Alliance on Mental Illness in 1979. NAMI began airing public service announcements nationwide in the 1980s.As the US Congress proclaimed the 1990s to be the "Decade of the Brain," NAMI took part in public awareness initiatives aimed at eradicating stigmas associated with mental health.

While this increase in treatment is a positive step toward lowering stigma, it also highlights the amount of work still to be done to improve mental health services accessibility and awareness.

Mental Health Awareness Month : The History and Impact