Mental Health Moment
May 2022
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
Mental health refers to our emotional and social well-being and impacts how we think, feel, and behave. It plays a role in connecting with others, making decisions, handling stress, and many other aspects of daily life. Everyone has mental health, and it deserves your attention just as much as your physical health does.
Mental health is important for all of us. Taking care of yourself is critical to prevent your mental health from worsening – factors like nutrition and gut health, stress, sleep, relationships, trauma, and more can contribute to poor mental health. If your mental health is in a good spot, it is a great time to practice coping skills – ways to help you deal with hard feelings – so that you're better able to handle tough times when they happen.
When you’re mentally healthy, you are able to enjoy your life and the people in it, feel good about yourself, keep up good relationships, and deal with stress. It’s normal for your mental health to shift over time – we all face difficult situations in our lives. Creating positive habits is a great way to support your mental health when you’re doing well and helps you build skills to use if you do face symptoms of a mental health condition.
Maintaining Good Mental Health Tips
- OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS: essential to brain health and reduce inflammation and risk of heart disease
- B-GROUP VITAMINS: help to regulate brain chemicals, immune function, and amino acids
- VITAMIN D: important for brain function, including mood and critical thinking
Sleep - plays a role in your moods, ability to learn and make memories, organ health, immune system, and other bodily functions like appetite, metabolism, and hormone release. It also helps the body re-energize its cells and clear out toxins. Quality of sleep matters, not just how many hours you get.
Coping Skills - activities or strategies you can use to reduce or tolerate tough feelings.
Build a Support System - find your people and connect with people over shared hobbies and interests. Consider community service or volunteering. Focus on quality relationships.
What to Do When you Need Help
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call 911 or access one of the mental health resources below:
· Reach out to a trusted adult (parent, counselor, teacher, coach, etc.)
· Text NEEDHELP to 85511 for the Crisis Link Hotline at or call them at 703-527-4077
· Chat online with a specialist at CrisisChat.org or ImAlive.org
· Call an emergency mental health center at 703 573-5679 (Merrifield Center), 703-536-2000 (Dominion Hospital), or 703-289-7560 (INOVA emergency services)
· Go to the nearest emergency room at your local hospital
· Call 911