Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness month. Because we are both mental health professionals who co-direct a foundation that creates materials to support mental health, we often get invited to offer programs this month. Usually, these gatherings are for organizations that want to acknowledge and promote the importance of mental health, either for their employees or the people they serve.

We talk about many things in our presentations, including normalizing mental health challenges, seeking professional help, and understanding the enormous toll the pandemic has taken on almost everyone's mental health.

There is one exercise we led a week ago during one of our presentations that we would like to share with you now. We introduce this exercise by saying that one of the most critical points of Mental Health Awareness Month is to remind each of us to be more proactive and pay greater attention to and care for our own mental health.

For this exercise, we invite the participants to create two lists of activities or habits with us. The first list is activities or habits that deplete or diminish their mental health, and the second is a list of activities that enhance their mental health. The group co-creates the lists right then during the presentation.

Topping the first list of things that diminish their mental health are usually things like: not getting enough sleep, too much time on social media and/or screens, complaining too much, drinking too much, binge-watching TV, any kind of numbing behavior, working too many hours, and spending too much time with negative people.

Topping the second list, things that enhance mental health usually are things like: spending time outside, time with pets, time with friends and family, meditation/mindfulness/prayer, good sleep habits, eating well, movement/exercise, yoga, journaling, knitting, reading spiritually uplifting material, asking for help when needed, and playing or listening to music.

The final step of the exercise is crucial. After the lists are created, we ask the participants, "By a show of hands, how many of you wish you spent less time doing the things on the first list?" Usually, about 90% of their hands go up. And when we ask how may wish they spent more time on the second list, not surprisingly, the response is the same.

The point of the exercise is that each of us usually knows what enhances and what depletes our mental health. So the problem is not knowing what to do, but being more aware of the need to prioritize our need to regularly cultivate and grow our mental health.

In many of our Wellness Compass resources and programs, we have a saying, "Whatever we pay attention to is what will grow." To honor Mental Health Awareness month, let's all be more aware of the importance of paying attention to and growing our mental health. Making It Personal:

1. How comfortable are you talking about mental health, either your own, or listening to others talk about theirs? 2. What would be on your personal list of things that either diminish or enhance your mental health? 3. What's one thing from your "positive list" that you could do today or in the next few days to prioritize your mental health?