May is Mental Health Awareness Month
What you need to know when talking to your Girl Scouts.
Co-authored by Leslie Anselme and Morgan Alley.
It’s Mental Health Awareness Month! At Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, we believe that one’s mental health is equally as important as one’s physical health. GSUSA recently released a suite of new patches that discuss self-care and mental wellness, with options for Girl Scouts in grades 4-12. We invite you to take a few moments this month to explore the incredible resources from GSUSA, and read through the key points that we have compiled below.
What is mental health?
We use mental health as
an umbrella term to discuss disorders that impact one’s mood, anxiety,
or personality. Mental health also covers psychotic disorders, eating
disorders, trauma-related disorders, and substance abuse disorders.
You are not alone.
Despite the negative stigma
that is often attached to mental health issues, they impact so many in
this country and around the world. It has been approximated by mental
health researchers that one in five adults experience difficulty with
a mental health condition during any given year.
It’s not just adults!
Children can also
experience mental health issues. Half of all people with mental health
disorders show their first signs before they turn fourteen. Early
mental health support for children is so important and can look
different for everyone.
What factors impact a person’s mental health?
There are so many factors of our identities that can impact our
mental health, including family background, religious beliefs, social
norms and expectations, cultural traditions, and more. It's crucial
that we examine how we were taught about mental health—if at all—and
consider how those conversations impact the way we approach the
subject ourselves.
Mental health disorders are known as invisible
disabilities.
While some disabilities are physical, many
mental conditions can be invisible to others as they cannot be
observed or inferred. Therefore, we can never assume another person's
disability status.
Treat others with grace.
It's so important to be
kind, because you never know what someone else is going through,
working through, or dealing with.
Practice using inclusive language.
“Crazy,”
“nuts,” “psycho,” and “insane” are words that can be harmful to people
with certain mental health conditions. Try replacing these with words
like “outrageous,” “bananas,” “intense,” “wild,” or “extreme.” Refrain
from using names of mental health disorders to describe your
behaviors. Instead of saying, "I am so OCD about dishes," or
"I'm ADD about my work,” say what you are actually trying to
convey, "I am so particular about washing dishes," or
"I get really focused when I am working."
