What is
Mental Health?
Mental health is how
we think, feel and act as we cope with
life. Mental health also helps determine
how we handle stress, relate to others
and make choices. Like physical health,
mental health is important at every
stage of life, from childhood to
adolescence and throughout adulthood.
As we all know, everyone sometimes has
feelings of worry, anxiousness, sadness
and/or stress. With mental illness,
however, these feelings do not go away
and are severe enough to interfere with
our daily life. It can make it hard to
meet and keep friends, hold a job or
enjoy life.
 Mental illnesses are common -
they affect about one in five families
in the U.S. It is not our fault
if we have a mental illness. These
disorders - depression, phobias, bipolar
disorder, schizophrenia and many others
- are real diseases that we cannot will
or wish away. Fortunately, they are
often treatable. Medicines and therapy
can improve the life of most people with
mental illnesses.
What are some
early warning signs of mental illness?
Everyone has a sense
of when we are not feeling “quite
right.” We have to pay attention to our
feelings especially when we’re going
through tough times and when we notice
that our habits or routines change.
Some
of the early warning signs of mental illness
might include:
-
anxiety
-
nervousness
-
forgetfulness
-
inability to
experience pleasure
-
lack of
motivation
-
feeling slowed
down or speeded up
-
being uncaring
-
avoiding others
or isolating
-
being obsessed
with something that doesn’t really
matter
-
displaying of
irrational thought patterns
-
feeling
unconnected to our bodies
-
increased
irritability
-
increased
negativity
-
not keeping
appointments
-
changes in
appetite
-
restlessness
 For most of my
legislative career, I have been and
continue to be committed to creating
programs and services that help improve
the quality of life for people with
behavioral / mental health challenges.
I am proud to say
that our ground breaking work in the
areas of mental and behavioral health
has been recognized locally and
nationally. Over the past 15 years, our
“Breaking the Silence”
conferences, and the recently launched
“Breaking the Silence Community
Behavior Health Initiative” has
reached thousands, and has focused
direct services and attention on the
issue of behavioral health in the
African-American community.
As the honorary chair
of the Breaking the Silence
Community Behavioral Health Initiative
I am honored to continue my work with a
coalition of dedicated groups to help
address the serious conditions caused by
mental illness and develop strategies to
de-stigmatize the issue in the
African-American community. Among our
many priorities, the Initiative
provides:
-
Awareness &
Empowerment Seminars to help
organizations begin the conversation
about behavioral (mental) health
issues.
-
Voices of Hope &
Recovery Speakers Bureau - real
people sharing real experiences with
behavioral/mental health issues and
their journey towards recovery.
-
Participation and
visits to block, community and
neighborhood events, complete with
resource information tables and
staff.
-
Referrals to
targeted organizations to assist
families in the process of
understanding mental illness and
navigating the social service
networks that help address this and
related issues.
Drummers with
Attitude, a talented group of student
drummers and dancers from Bristol
Township middle and high schools,
provided a stellar performance during
the program.
If you want to learn
more or if you or someone you care about
is in need of behavioral health services
contact:
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