Mental Illness Awareness Week

Next week is NAMI's Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 2 - October 8). Mental illness is very near and dear to my heart. My grandfather suffer from schizophrenia, my mother lives with bipolar disorder, and as you know I have been fighting my own battle with postpartum depression with psychosis for a little over a year now. I also have an anxiety disorder. I want to use the Mental Illness Awareness Week to educate and increase awareness about mental illness. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older - about one in four adults - suffer from a diagnosable mental illness in any given year (Wikipedia). However, there is such stigma surrounding mental illness and receiving treatment. This creates a barrier for people who need to seek treatment and makes them afraid to do so. As a result, they have to live with mental illness without being properly medicated. This leads to a miserable existence for those very sick people. The message that I would like to give is that we should put an end to stigma surrounding mental illness and we should all work together to advocate for treatment and recovery.

Starting next week, I will post something each day to celebrate Mental Illness Awareness week starting on October 2. It would be great if you would use this opportunity to raise awareness for mental illness. Also, blue is the color for mental health so wear blue sometime next week! Be inspired!