Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Day 283: Shared Information About Mental Illness


This week is National Mental Illness Awareness week here in the United States.  My family and I aren't strangers to mental illness, as my grandmother suffered from bipolar disease.  Although I had intended on doing something, I received an email from a reader wishing to remain anonymous who had a story and a request that they wanted to share with me.  The reader mentioned that for the longest time they had been struggling with depression.  It had never gotten to the point of suicide, but they had been in a pretty sad place.  With the help of their family, friends, and their doctor, they have overcome their depression and are happier than they have ever been.  The person asked me to utilize my forum to spread awareness for depression, suicide, and other mental illness issues so that others who might be reading this blog know that things can get better and that there is help out there.  So today, for my random act of kindness, I would like to share some information and links to places for people to educate themselves about mental illness to help themselves or others around them.

26% of the population of the United States (or 57.7 million people) suffers from some sort of mental illness, with almost a quarter of these cases being deemed "serious."  Mental illness knows no bounds as it affects every race, every sex, and every nationality.  There are so many different organizations out there that are dedicated to specific types of mental illness or issues.  Here are just a few:
There are many other organizations out there that can help.  But always remember, there IS help out there.  Even when you seem to be alone and at your lowest point, there is someone out there who can help.  Hell, I'm not a doctor or even someone who gives great advice, but if you need someone to talk to, shoot me an email at 366RandomActs@gmail.com and I will be there to listen.

1 comment:

  1. I almost cried while reading this post. I've been stuggling with some depressive feelings in my life, and slowly but surely am feeling a lot better. It's nice to read this blog. Just another little source of joy and hope for the future :)

    Keep going!

    ReplyDelete

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