Mental Health
Hi - it's Jen - taking a turn with the midweek…
I wanted to start by thanking everyone who supported Youth Sunday, the Memorial Tree and Eagle Scout dedication, and the Grad Honor Banquet. It was an excellent day and we are so grateful for you!
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and I wanted to continue the conversation here and pray the conversations will continue long after the month has ended.
When we think about cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, we don't wait years to treat them.
We start before Stage 4—we begin with prevention. When people are in the first stage of those diseases and are beginning to show signs or symptoms, we try immediately to reverse these symptoms. We don't ignore them. In fact, we develop a plan of action to reverse and sometimes stop the progression of the disease. So why don't we do the same for individuals who are dealing with mental illness? Statistics tell us,
1 in 5 American adults will have a diagnosable mental health condition in any given year.
50 percent of Americans will meet the criteria for a diagnosable mental health condition sometime in their life, and half of those people will develop conditions by the age of 14. Read that again, by the age of 14.
Catching mental health conditions early is known as Early Identification and Intervention. However, many times people may not realize that their symptoms are being caused by a mental health condition or feel ashamed to pursue help because of the stigma associated with mental illness. It's up to all of us to know the signs and take action so that mental illnesses can be caught early and treated, and we can live up to our full potential. Even though mental illnesses may require intensive, long-term treatment and a lot of hard work at the later stages, people can and do recover and reclaim their lives.
One way to see if you may be experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition is to take a screening. If you are interested in taking a screening or curious about what that looks like you can visit www.mhascreening.org to take a quick, confidential screening for a variety of mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, mood disorders or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Use your screening results to start a conversation with your primary care provider, or a trusted friend or family member and begin to plan a course of action for addressing your mental health.
Remember, mental health conditions are not only common, they are treatable. There is a wide variety of treatment options for mental illnesses ranging from talk therapy to medication to peer support, and it may take some time for a person to find the right treatment or combination of treatments that works best for them. But when they do, the results can be truly amazing and life changing.
At First Pres we are committed to continuing the conversations. We are working towards becoming a resource center for Mental Health. We want people to know First Pres is a safe place to come and seek help and resources. One day we hope to expand what is available, for those in need of Mental Health services, here on our campus. Please continue to pray for this endeavor and please continue to have those conversations. We want to become part of breaking the "stigma".
Christian Ed has committed to having age appropriate conversations in all of our Programs. As you heard on Youth Sunday - it matters! Together we can do hard things. As we continue to Love God, Love People and Do Things we encourage you "Do Things", through love, and become part of tackling Mental Health head on. Maybe your own, maybe a family members maybe a neighbors. All are welcome at First Pres, in your belief and your doubt. God is ok with all of it.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
-Jeremiah 29:11
Because I have been there I want others to be able to look to me, not with pity but with hope. Hope that the strength, that God has given me, will become their hope and their strength. Let's all become part of the hope and strength for the future. Not only for ourselves but for the Church here on the corner of Marsh and Morro.
With all kinds of hope,
Jen Rabenaldt