Trying to Be the Sunshine But COVID-19 Keeps Testing You? May is Mental Health Awareness Month
May 5, 2020 - San Antonio
Open up about your feelings like a boss. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.
By Jade Esteban Estrada - Staff Writer, San Antonio Sentinel
According to Mental Health America, the nation’s leading community-based nonprofit that addresses the needs of those living with mental illness and promotes the overall mental health of all Americans, one in every five individuals will experience a mental illness during their lifetime. Everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health and the current COVID-19 health concern can certainly cause some people to feel down from time to time. Here’s some good news: May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, a time when individuals raise awareness about how humans are feeling on the inside.
The good news is that May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, a time when individuals raise awareness about how humans are feeling on the inside.
“This has been a stressful time,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg on Sunday during his nightly COVID-19 briefing. “Especially staying in your home, which is one of the ways we can socially distance and limit the spread of the virus - [that] is not easy,”
“Remember,” he added, “as we socially distance, as we stay at home, know this: You are not alone.”
Judge Nelson Wolff echoed that sentiment. “One of the great, difficult things with mental health is when you’re isolated. You’re home by yourself. That’s really a challenge and one we want to make sure that people reach out for help if they’re having some issues out there all by themselves,” he said.
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services operates a mental health support line that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “You’re welcome to call them,” Nirenberg advised. “You should call them.” The hotline number is 1-833-986-1919.
Jade Esteban Estrada is a staff writer at the San Antonio Sentinel, where he covers public health and other citywide issues. He can be reached at jade@sasentinel.com.