In the Merry Merry Month of May
During May it really starts to feel like Spring. The fact that May has more than its share of holidays probably contributes to this feeling. Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day all fall in May.
Did you also know that May is Mental Health Awareness month? Approximately 20% of American adults will suffer from clinical depression and or anxiety each year. That would mean that one out of five people in a room will likely suffer in this way. And out of the 80% of people who presumedly will not suffer from anxiety or depression, many of them will have someone close to them who will.
First, let’s establish a distinction between a feeling and clinical depression. Sometimes people feel depressed for one reason or another but it passes like any other feeling. Clinical depression is a heavy weight of sadness that is unaltered by circumstances: that is to say, a clinically depressed person could win a million dollars and the depression would be unaltered by the news. On the anxiety end, imagine someone sneaking up on you and scaring you. As soon as you realize what happened the startled fear feeling quickly goes away. Clinical anxiety is like having that feeling all the time.
When someone is suffering from anxiety or depression, the beautiful things about life can actually intensify the torment. Things like holidays, warm weather, and barbeques create more of a demand to be seen and to be social.
Unfortunately, while we have come a long way, we still are in denial about how prevalent mental illness is. We still stigmatize it to some degree. We can even be in denial about the state of our own mental health.
High levels of stress for extended periods of time can cause us to break down mentally. Being overstressed at home and at work simultaneously is a killer. Managing stress can be tricky. Most of us, for one reason or another, can’t remove the stressors but we can add things that reduce stress like exercise or entertainment.
Two signs that something may be clinically wrong are a change in appetite and or a change in sleep. Some may lose their appetite; others may want to eat constantly. Some can hardly sleep at all; others can hardly get out of bed.
As we manage our lives during the present times, we need to be mindful of how life is affecting us. May is Mental Health Awareness month. That’s right, the merry merry month of May.
Please be mindful of your own mental health and the mental health of those around you, not only in May, but all year around.
Pastor Gary
