With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, we wanted to share some important resources and info with our audience in ways to help military service members and their families prioritize mental health needs and issues. These resources include places to reach out to professionals for help as well as ways to prioritize self-care for all members of the family.
Mental Health Awareness Resources
- Of course, the first stop for all things related to promoting mental health awareness and health is with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI is the go-to resource that is “the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.” Their “Veterans and Active Duty” page highlights lots of organizations and articles related to the mental health concerns of military service members and their families. This includes who to reach out to for help, disclosing mental health issues within the military, helping fellow service members dealing with mental health issues, and transitions to civilian life.
- This Health.mil article showcases many resources on mental health awareness and the importance of combating the stigma of mental health issues. “However, in the military, there is a large stigma against seeking assistance due to the fear of being treated or perceived differently.” This fight against the stigma of sharing mental health concerns is a huge part of spreading the word about mental health awareness.
- Military OneSource is also the go-to place for all things related to military service members and their families. They have a dedicated page for mental health awareness and provide links to resources. These resources include “Mood Hacker,” which is a free resilience tool to plan and track your positive activities every day. It’s a free tool that provides a list of mood-improving activities. Also, another great resource they provide is called “Chill Drills,” a collection of mindfulness exercises to relax the body and mind. The app is free and easily downloadable!
- Finally, be sure and look through our great catalog of past programming within the different concentration areas here at OneOp for resources and info on mental health awareness. These recent blog posts “Caregiving for Individuals with Disabilities – Preventing Suicide” and “Practicing Mindfulness, Meditation, and Self-Care to Combat Stress for Military Families” are just two small samples of info available at OneOp.
Be sure and check back regularly for more great programming from OneOp over the coming summer months that will dive into the importance of mental health awareness for military service members and military families.
Blog Image: Photo from Pixabay [Brain Key Mental by mohamed_hassan, Jan. 12, 2022, CC0]
