Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental illness.
1 in 5 Americans will be affected by a mental health condition in their lifetime and every American is affected or impacted through their friends and family. Take action today to help others as we fight stigma, provide support, educate the public and advocate for equal care.
Throughout May, The National Alliance on Mental Illness and participants across the country are raising awareness for the importance of mental health. Each year we fight stigma, provide support, educate the public and advocate for equal care. And, each year, the movement grows stronger.
Source: AdultMentalHealth.org
Common signs of mental illness in adults and adolescents can include the following:
- Excessive worrying or fear
- Confused thinking or problems concentrating
- Extreme mood changes
- Avoiding friends and social activities
- Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
- Changes in eating habits
- Overuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
- Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches)
- Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
- An intense concern with appearance
- Thinking about suicide or self-harm
Source: NAMI
Talk Openly About Mental Health
“I fight stigma by talking about what it is like to have bipolar disorder and PTSD on Facebook. Even if this helps just one person, it is worth it for me.” – Angela Christie Roach Taylor
Educate Yourself And Others
“I take every opportunity to educate people and share my personal story and struggles with mental illness. It doesn't matter where I am, if I over-hear a conversation or a rude remark being made about mental illness, or anything regarding a similar subject, I always try to use that as a learning opportunity and gently intervene and kindly express how this makes me feel, and how we need to stop this because it only adds to the stigma.” – Sara Bean
Be Conscious Of Language
“I fight stigma by reminding people that their language matters. It is so easy to refrain from using mental health conditions as adjectives and in my experience, most people are willing to replace their usage of it with something else if I explain why their language is problematic.” – Helmi Henkin
Choose Empowerment Over Shame
“I fight stigma by choosing to live an empowered life. To me, that means owning my life and my story and refusing to allow others to dictate how I view myself or how I feel about myself.” – Val Fletcher
Don’t Harbor Self-Stigma
“I fight stigma by not having stigma for myself—not hiding from this world in shame, but being a productive member of society. I volunteer at church, have friends, and I’m a peer mentor and a mom. I take my treatment seriously. I'm purpose driven and want to show others they can live a meaningful life even while battling [mental illness].” – Jamie Brown
Source: NAMI
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Historical Perspectives on Living With Meaning
Let’s take a step back and see what wise men through history believed a life of purpose to be.
The Greeks
The ancient Greeks believed in the concept of eudaimonia, which translates as “happiness” or “welfare.” All the great Greek philosophers—Socrates, Plato, Aristotle—believed that the good life means to live in a state of eudaimonia.
Aristotle, for instance, believed that eudaimonia required not only a good character, but taking actions and achieving excellence. Epicurus—another prominent Greek—understood the good life as one of pleasure and freedom from pain and suffering.
Stoicism
The Stoic school of thought, founded by Zeno of Citium around 300 B.C., considered the good life to be “living in agreement with nature.” Stoicism advocates doing good while staying calm, focusing on what’s important and under our control, not wasting thoughts on what we can’t change.
Theism
Theists believed in the existence of a deity, a God, who created the universe. Our life’s purpose, then, is aligned with God’s purpose in creating the universe, and it is God that gives our lives meaning, purpose, and values. This relates to modern day religious studies and how and why we search for meaning beyond what is readily seen or understood.
Simply put, your life’s meaning is what you decide it to be.
Source: Lifehack
How to Lead a Meaningful Life
Be Compassionate and Care About Yourself
- Connect with community and family
- Physical exercise
- Lifelong learning
- Giving to others
- Mindfulness of the world around you.
What these recommendations imply is that what brings sunshine into our lives is finding the ways to care about ourselves and to do what makes us feel good.
Source: Lifehack
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