May Is Mental Health Awareness Month

**VivaLasViejas**, ASN, RN

The original Mental Health Awareness Month was actually established in 1949 by Mental Health America, an organization dedicated to advocacy for people who live with mental illnesses such as major depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. It was a week long at the time, and few Americans knew about it until recent years. Psychiatric disorders were a taboo subject back then; they were talked about in whispers---if at all---and usually only in relation to celebrities.

Some modern-day celebrities are now coming forward to discuss their own battles with mental illness, including Demi Lovato and Lady Gaga. They are helping to decrease the stigma attached to mental health diagnoses, and making it easier for us mere mortals to talk about our struggles. Patty Duke and Carrie Fisher, both sufferers of bipolar disorder, were among the first to educate the public about their condition in a time when hardly anyone had heard of it.

But although we have made progress, there is still much work to be done. The common perception of mentally ill individuals as dangerous to themselves and others is very much alive and well, as evidenced by the public's reactions to mass shootings and other horrific crimes. It's almost always presumed that the person has a psychiatric history. While it may be true some of the time, people with mental health issues are more likely to be the victims of violence, rather than the perpetrators.

That is why continuing education on this topic is so important. There is so much ignorance out there. As nurses, we are in a unique position to open a dialogue about mental health; however, we must learn about it ourselves before we can give information to others. Many nursing schools offer very little in the way of psychology courses, and clinicals are often limited to a short rotation on an inpatient unit. I have been a patient on such a ward myself, and most of the students who came in to shadow a nurse were hesitant, even afraid to interact with us. (My own clinical rotation was two days.) That's nowhere near long enough to gain even a minimal understanding of what it is to live with mental illness.

What few people outside support groups and other mental health circles know is that brain-based disorders affect not only the individual patient, but family, friends, even co-workers and bosses. They are some of the leading causes of disability worldwide, and billions of dollars are lost every year in terms of productivity. It can also be very difficult to hold down a job when one is in the grip of his or her illness; and even when he or she is well again, the repercussions of the episode are often severe. I lost several jobs---and ultimately my career---to my own illness, and went on disability in 2015. It was not how I expected my career to end; I don't know if I'll ever work again. And even if I do, it won't be as a nurse...I'm positively allergic to job stress, and nursing, as you all know, is loaded with it!

So I'm asking all of you out there to learn as much as you can about mental health. You will meet many psychiatric patients in such environments as clinics and med/surg units, and you need to know how to meet their special needs as well as possible. They deserve competent, compassionate care when they're acutely ill, and especially when they're acting out.

In the meantime, I'd like to invite you to share your own stories during Mental Health Awareness Month. Almost everyone is touched by mental illness at one time or another in their lives---some of you may have loved ones with a brain disorder, or you may live with one or more of them yourself. We won't judge you or make you feel "less-than". Thank you.

May Is Mental Health Awareness Month

About VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN

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