Mental Health Awareness Month: How Your Family Can Help Raise Awareness

The 67th Mental Health Awareness Month this May 2016 provides plenty of opportunities for citizens to raise awareness about the realities of having a mental illness. So what can your family do to help?

The most important mission of this year's Mental Health Awareness Month is to clarify the most common misconceptions about mental illness. Families can help by sharing factual information about the nature of mental diseases.

Many people with mental illness decide to hide their disease and withdraw themselves because of their fear of being persecuted, isolated and judged by others, SCPR explains. Many patients are also unaware that there are professionals ready to help them and that there are communities that share their predicaments.

"Sharing is the key to breaking down the stigma surrounding mental illnesses and to showing others that they are not alone in their feelings and their symptoms," Mental Health America CEO Paul Gionfriddo stated. Donating any amount to charitable organizations focused on helping the mentally ill is also a great help to the cause.

Citizens can also get involved during the Mental Health Awareness Month by encouraging their friends and family with mental illness to share their experiences to the public in order to improve the public perception of mental health. Their stories and experiences can be shared using the hashtag #mentalillnessfeelslike, Tech Times reports.