Thursday, April 29, 2010

May is Mental Health Month

I co-hosted a WeGo Health Webinar on Wednesday April 28th with Amy Kiel and the focus was May is Mental Health Month. Here is the link to some tips, tools and suggestions on how you can get involved http://bit.ly/bSddS6 . So how will I be getting involved?

I'll be exhibiting at a corporate health fair and displaying lots of helpful information on mental health and recovery and the support and education programs of NAMI Massachusetts. I always try to interact with people who come by and I'm often successful in finding out why they are getting literature and if they have any questions I can answer in person.

I'll be participating in the weekly Tuesday Mental Health and Social Media Twitter chats which I really enjoy. I'm always so invigorated after the chat, having discussed and shared thoughts about mental health topics with like minded people from Canada, England and Australia as well as across the U.S. Join the conversation on Tuesdays at 10pm EDT http://www.twitterchat.com/room/mhsm For other time zones use this http://bit.ly/aYgGdo to convert to your time zone.

I'll be tweeting and posting daily Facebook status updates about mental health facts, dispelling myths and telling how mental illness affects the entire family. I'm hoping that the followers and friends of NAMI Massachusetts and my personal Facebook friends will retweet/copy them into their status so we can raise awareness and reduce stigma. As a unified voice I hope we'll make a significant impact.

As Volunteer Coordinator for NAMI Massachusetts I'll be participating in the NAMIWalks Massachusetts: Changing Minds One Step at a Time on May 15th at Artesani Park, along the Charles River http://bit.ly/cCoefb. This Walk is such a fun experience, and yes a lot of work, but still lots of fun. It's wonderful to be around thousands of families, friends and so on, celebrating that mental illness is just like any other illness and that there's no shame or guilt associated with it - at least for those precious few hours. It's very empowering for most walkers and volunteers to participate.

I've pulled together as many Mental Health events in the state of Massachusetts as I could find and put them together in a calendar on our website http://bit.ly/cCnIS4 I'll keep adding to the calendar as I find more events and programs. If you know of one please email me the info at cindynelson@namimass.org. There's a lot of good stuff going on around Children's (May 2nd-8th) and Older American's (May 23rd-29th) mental health so I hope people will take the time to check them out.

I'll be moderating a workshop at the Suicide Prevention Conference in Marlboro, MA and also helping out at the NAMI Massachusetts Exhibit table.

I'm sure there'll be more I'll add to my list and I'll keep you posted.

So please use me as your inspiration to get involved. I hope to see in your comments what you did to honor or celebrate May is Mental Health Month.

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