Celebrating Asian American Month and Mental Health Awareness Month

May is both API Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. The National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association, NAAPIMHA joins other advocates, community members and individuals who continually strive to improve the well being of all our communities, regardless of who we are or where we came from. Celebrating who we are is a way of ensuring our mental HEALTH. We also live in a world of growing intolerance which is a mental health problem that we must not accept.

Mental health is a part of our lives and impacts each and every one of us at some point yet so many are afraid to talk about it. This is unfortunate since getting help can literally be a life-saving decision. The road may be long but things do get better and there is hope. Mental health challenges can occur to anyone who has experienced loss or any other traumatic event, has felt isolated or depressed, had thoughts of suicide, feared failure, been bullied, felt the sting of racism, homophobia, sexism, or xenophobia, faced unfair immigration policies, etc. There are those with lived experience who may have been diagnosed with a major mental health condition and struggled to get their life together. It is important for everyone to remember that this does not mean a person cannot be competent or even gifted but failure to get proper treatment or being shunned by others can rob them of their dignity and hinders their ability to reach their full potential.

NAAPIMHA continues to work with our partners to raise awareness around mental health on college campuses through our Friends DO make a difference campaign. If you are interested please contact JR Kuo the Project Director at jrkuo@naapimha.org or coffeewithjrkuo@gmail.com. We also work closely with AANHPI serving organizations to train Wellness Coaches to help community members make healthy decisions. This is done through NAAPIMHA’s Achieving Whole Health initiative which recognizes the relationship between physical health and mental health. We look forward to partnering with you on either of these or other projects.

Addressing mental health is a year-round process. You don’t have to use the language of mental health per se to have a positive impact on our emotional well being. Anything you do to fight racism, xenophobia, homophobia, or sexism, or address fair immigration policies, housing, education, the environment, employment, health care, public safety…..counts. Social justice is a mental health issue.

Take care of yourself, exercise, eat well, be with a friend, be a friend, listen, ask for help, learn something new, take a nap, take chances…be good to yourself and others.

VOTE Supporting decision makers who work to make this a better country for all, not just a privileged few or those who wish to deny the rights of others is important. This too is mental health.

Celebrate

[If you dig my blogs on mental health and reflections, get my insights straight to your inbox and let’s normalize mental health together]