The month of May is designated as "mental health awareness month". During the month of May, CLUES joins the national mental health awareness movement. From CLUES, we join together to fight stigma, provide support, educate the public, and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.

Remember that it is just as important to take care of your mental health and the mental health of your children as it is your physical health. Here we have compiled facts about mental health along with some of the myths surrounding it to debunk.

"Crying is bad"

There is a biological reason we have tears.  When we cry, we release helpful hormones that help us relax and feel better.  Crying lets us release feelings instead of bottling them up and having them come out later as anger or irritability.  When we cry, we are showing strength.  We are demonstrating to others that we are human beings, and that we can show how things affect us without becoming overwhelmed or feeling ashamed.

"Therapy is for crazy people"

Therapy is for everyone, just like going to the doctor is for everyone. We care for our body going to the doctor and we care for our emotions going to therapy.  Therapy helps us understand ourselves better, reach our goals, have healthy relationships, and live our best life.  Even therapists go to therapy! 

“Having depression means that you feel sad.”

Sadness is a normal and healthy emotion that we all feel at times.  Even though depression many times includes feelings of sadness, it is much more than that.  In order to have a diagnosis of depression, that person must feel sad or down, or not have interest or pleasure in doing anything, the majority of the time for at least two weeks.  In additions, they have to report at least four other symptoms, including sleeping problems, lack of concentration, restlessness or slowness, feelings of guilt or worthlessness, fatigue, and/or thoughts of death or suicide. 

We continue to emphasize the importance of confronting the mental health crisis and providing resources to do our part to combat the root of the issue. Mental health is not something to be ashamed of, and we encourage people to talk with friends, family, and professionals in an effort to destigmatize mental health in our communities. Getting help and talking about issues surrounding mental health is a sign of strength, rather than weakness, and we offer our support to those struggling. Remember, you are not along in the journey to better your mental health!