National Mental Health Awareness Month

Every day, millions of people face stigma related to mental health because they or their loved ones are facing a challenge. Many of these people feel isolated and alone, going years before receiving any help. With the restrictions needed to curb the pandemic, many individuals who should’ve been seeking help didn’t. It’s time to address mental illness, end the stigma and create a community where everyone feels comfortable reaching out for the support they deserve.

 

Helpful Links:

Each Mind Matters, Proposition 63, OC Health and Stigma Free OC  are hosting both virtual and in-person events. We encourage all families to look over the calendar of events and see if any of the events will help you, your family or loved one.  There are workshops on reducing stress, ending the stigma to mental illness, tips to suicide prevention, using art as therapy, yoga sessions, ow to deal with isolation and depression, Men’s Mental Health Workshop (in Spanish), and the list goes on. Many workshops and presentations are in languages other than English. So please share this link with ESL families as well. Click HERE for the full calendar. 

 

Mental Illness facts, statistics and quotes:

“The brain is a body part too; we just know less about it,” the former
president said during a national conference on mental health in 2013.
“And there should be no shame in discussing or seeking help for
treatable illnesses that affect too many people that we love. We’ve got
to get rid of that embarrassment; we’ve got to get rid of that stigma. Too
many Americans who struggle with mental health illnesses are still
suffering in silence rather than seeking help, and we need to see it that
men and women who would never hesitate to go see a doctor if they
had a broken arm or came down with the flu, that they have that same
attitude when it comes to their mental health.”
BARACK OBAMA

1 in 5 children,
either currently or at some point during their life,
has had a seriously debilitating mental illness.
SOURCE: https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm

 

“Mental health
needs a great
deal of attention.
It’s the final
taboo and it
needs to be
faced and dealt
with.”
ADAM ANT

“When ‘I’ is replaced by ‘we’
even ‘illness’ becomes ‘wellness.’”
–Malcom X

From 2009-2013, there were 3,613 cases of self-inflicted injury and suicides
reported among 10-19 year olds in Orange County combined;
65 of which resulted in death.
Despite a slight decrease in the number of self-inflicted injury cases from 2009 to
2010, there was a 26.8% increase in the total number of cases from 2010
to 2013 (OCHCA & OCSCD, 2015).
SOURCE:
http://www.ochealthiertogether.org/content/sites/ochca/Local_Reports/Kaiser_OC_Mental_Health_
Convening_Summary_Report_2017-11-17.pdf

Mental Illness and The Criminal Justice System
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

• About 2 million times each year, people with serious mental illness are
  booked into jails.
•  About 2 in 5 people who are incarcerated have a history of mental illness
  (37% in state and federal prisons and 44% held in local jails).
•  66% of women in prison reported having a history of mental illness, almost
  twice the percentage of men in prison.
•  Nearly one in four people shot and killed by police officers between 2015
  and 2020 had a mental health condition.
•  Suicide is the leading cause of death for people held in local jails.
•  An estimated 4,000 people with serious mental illness are held in solitary
  confinement inside U.S. prisons.

COMMUNITIES

•  70% of youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosable mental
  health condition.
•  Youth in detention are 10 times more likely to suffer from psychosis than
  youth in the community.
•  About 50,000 veterans are held in local jails — 55% report experiencing a
  mental illness.
•  Among incarcerated people with a mental health condition, non-white
  individuals are more likely to go to solitary confinement, be injured, and
  stay longer in jail.

ACCESS TO CARE

•  About 3 in 5 people (63%) with a history of mental illness do not receive
  mental health treatment while incarcerated in state and federal prisons.
•  Less than half of people (45%) with a history of mental illness receive
  mental health treatment while held in local jails.
•  People who have healthcare coverage upon release from incarceration
  are more likely to engage in services that reduce recidivism.
  SOURCE: https://www.nami.org/mhstats