Mental Health Awareness
14/05/12 05:24
According to the National Health Information Center, there are multiple health awareness themes for every month of the year. We recognize some of the big ones. Most of us know that February is Heart Month. Ovarian Cancer and Prostate Cancer share September. Breast Cancer is October. Diabetes Awareness Month is November. November is also Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
There are a lot of other illness and disease awareness months. Did you know that January is Thyroid Awareness Month? Trisomy Awareness Month is March. September is National Sickle Cell Month. January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Irritable Bowel Syndrome gets April.
You get the picture. We have a month for almost everything. In the midst of that, we sometimes forget that every one of those illnesses directly affects individuals and their families. These are serious matters to the victims of the illnesses. Raising awareness is one way to engage people in prevention and to advance research leading to better treatment. It is easy, however, for some illnesses to get lost in the mix.
One of the oldest of these awareness months seeks to raise awareness about one of the most common categories of illness. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It has been since 1949. Mental illness directly affects more than 60 million people in our country. That is a quarter of our population. Take a look at any gathering you attend. Statistically, one quarter of the people in that room are directly affected by mental illness.
Mental illness is surrounded by stigma and misinformation. The stigma is real. Mental illnesses are often seen as weaknesses. We wouldn’t think of telling someone with diabetes that their disease was a failing or character. We wouldn’t think of asking a cancer victim to “shake it off and get back to work.” But those things are routinely applied to the victims of mental illnesses. The misinformation is equally real. It is commonly believed that there is little effective treatment for mental illness. There are very effective strategies for treatment and prevention of mental illnesses. Treatment for clinical depression, for example, has a much higher success rate than treatment for heart disease. Yet far too many people fail to seek treatment because they either don’t know treatment is available or they fear talking with anyone about their symptoms because of societal attitudes.
So today, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, I want to salute a genuine hero and offer some information about a special event we are planning for our town.
The Gap is an ocean cliff in eastern Sydney in Australia. Its location in a major urban area has given it the notoriety of being a place where people die by suicide. The average in recent years has been 50 suicides each year despite fences, security cameras, special lifeline phone booths, signs and other prevention measures. For years, Don Ritchie lived across the street from the gap. Ritchie had seen a lot in his life. He served as a Navy Seal during World War II aboard the HMS Hobart. He witnessed the surrender of the Japanese Forces in Tokyo Bay in 1945. Following his military service, Ritchie earned his living as an insurance agent. Upon retirement, he settled into his home near the gap where he enjoyed the spectacular view.
Nearly 45 years ago, he made his first successful suicide intervention. He had no training, just the desire to save a life. He simply began to talk to the person standing on the ledge. His friendly smile and gentle manner was effective. He invited the person to his home for tea and conversation. All he did was listen. That was enough.
He repeated the process again and again. By some accounts, Ritchie is responsible for more than 500 successful suicide interventions. He may be the most successful suicide preventer in the world. His record rivals that of Chen Si, a man in China who is the unofficial lifeguard of the Nanjing Bridge. There is nothing flashy or special about Don Ritchie’s style. A smile can go a long way. Listening can go a long way farther. The offering of a cup of tea probably doesn’t hurt either.
Too often the victims of mental illness feel isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. A simple gesture of caring and listening can make all the difference in the world. Ritchie was named a Local Hero in 2011 in the Australian of the Year Awards. MP Malcolm Turnbull called him “A true hero, one of our greatest Australians.” Don Ritchie joined the Australian Navy to become a hero of war. He ended up being a hero of peace. Saving 500 lives is no small matter.
Don Ritchie passed away peacefully yesterday in a Sydney hospital at the age of 86. A funeral will be held on Friday. His wife and three daughters survive him. So do hundreds of people whose lives he saved with a smile, a listening ear and, as the Australians say, “a cuppa.”
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, a coalition of agencies in Rapid City is putting together a public event on Thursday, May 24 at the Main Street Square in downtown Rapid City. There will be booths with mental health services information, local musicians, free food, a biodegradable balloon release and speakers including the mayor, the sheriff, and Amy Ivereson-Pollreisz, Deputy Secretary of Social Services for South Dakota. It will be a fun-filled time in a wonderful new public space. People who might not otherwise know of all of the wonderful treatment and prevention services in our area will have an opportunity to get information in a relaxed environment. There will be plenty of smiles, listening ears, and even folks who will sit down and share refreshments.
May has been Mental Health Awareness month for 63 years. Thousands of lives have been saved. There is still much more that needs to be done. Help us spread the news. We may not all be able to save 500 lives like Don Ritchie, but we each have the capacity to save one.
There are a lot of other illness and disease awareness months. Did you know that January is Thyroid Awareness Month? Trisomy Awareness Month is March. September is National Sickle Cell Month. January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Irritable Bowel Syndrome gets April.
You get the picture. We have a month for almost everything. In the midst of that, we sometimes forget that every one of those illnesses directly affects individuals and their families. These are serious matters to the victims of the illnesses. Raising awareness is one way to engage people in prevention and to advance research leading to better treatment. It is easy, however, for some illnesses to get lost in the mix.
Mental illness is surrounded by stigma and misinformation. The stigma is real. Mental illnesses are often seen as weaknesses. We wouldn’t think of telling someone with diabetes that their disease was a failing or character. We wouldn’t think of asking a cancer victim to “shake it off and get back to work.” But those things are routinely applied to the victims of mental illnesses. The misinformation is equally real. It is commonly believed that there is little effective treatment for mental illness. There are very effective strategies for treatment and prevention of mental illnesses. Treatment for clinical depression, for example, has a much higher success rate than treatment for heart disease. Yet far too many people fail to seek treatment because they either don’t know treatment is available or they fear talking with anyone about their symptoms because of societal attitudes.
So today, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, I want to salute a genuine hero and offer some information about a special event we are planning for our town.
Nearly 45 years ago, he made his first successful suicide intervention. He had no training, just the desire to save a life. He simply began to talk to the person standing on the ledge. His friendly smile and gentle manner was effective. He invited the person to his home for tea and conversation. All he did was listen. That was enough.
Too often the victims of mental illness feel isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. A simple gesture of caring and listening can make all the difference in the world. Ritchie was named a Local Hero in 2011 in the Australian of the Year Awards. MP Malcolm Turnbull called him “A true hero, one of our greatest Australians.” Don Ritchie joined the Australian Navy to become a hero of war. He ended up being a hero of peace. Saving 500 lives is no small matter.
Don Ritchie passed away peacefully yesterday in a Sydney hospital at the age of 86. A funeral will be held on Friday. His wife and three daughters survive him. So do hundreds of people whose lives he saved with a smile, a listening ear and, as the Australians say, “a cuppa.”
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, a coalition of agencies in Rapid City is putting together a public event on Thursday, May 24 at the Main Street Square in downtown Rapid City. There will be booths with mental health services information, local musicians, free food, a biodegradable balloon release and speakers including the mayor, the sheriff, and Amy Ivereson-Pollreisz, Deputy Secretary of Social Services for South Dakota. It will be a fun-filled time in a wonderful new public space. People who might not otherwise know of all of the wonderful treatment and prevention services in our area will have an opportunity to get information in a relaxed environment. There will be plenty of smiles, listening ears, and even folks who will sit down and share refreshments.
May has been Mental Health Awareness month for 63 years. Thousands of lives have been saved. There is still much more that needs to be done. Help us spread the news. We may not all be able to save 500 lives like Don Ritchie, but we each have the capacity to save one.