Did you know May is Mental Health Awareness of Month? I admit I didn’t until last week. 

What are your thoughts on depression and mental health issues? Did you know that depression, suicide, and other mental health issues have dramatically increased with the recent pandemic? Along with all the other implications of the past year, the increase in suicide rate and addiction is saddening. 

In our work with people with disabilities and their families, we know there are increased rates of depression and other mental health issues for a variety of reasons. Some of these mental health issues are addressed and given the proper attention and others are not. Sometimes, just as we’ve found in the case of physical therapy and other rehabilitation services, even when a need is identified, resources are not always available to help the person.

We are so grateful to Karen Thacker for providing a short introductory video on depression that we can use as part of our wellness series, as well as introduce future rehabilitation promoters to some basics on depression. Providing some awareness and tools for them to think about some of these issues may help them identify people that need more help than they can provide and help them seek the appropriate avenues for needed care.

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch An Honest Look At Depression, as we think about the people we may know who are struggling with mental health issues and visualizing our possible response towards them. 

If you’d like more great resources, check out Karen’s website at www.JourneyForward.net