31
Days for Mental Health Awareness

By Dr. Marlo Archer   http://www.drmarlo.com

 

Did you know Mental Health Awareness Month was established in 1949? Seventy-Six years ago!

May has been Mental Health Awareness Month not only for my whole life, but for my parents’ whole lives, and yet, I really don’t think I even heard of it until maybe 15-20 years ago.

The 2025 Mental Health Awareness Month theme is “Turn Awareness into Action.” Well, now that we’re all aware, what are we going to do about it?

Here is a list of 31 things you can do during this month, to keep Mental Health a top priority. Help raise both the awareness and the actual mental health of those around you — as well as yourself:

1. Look people in the face.
2. Smile.
3. Wave a merging car in ahead of you.
4. Listen to uplifting music.
5. Drink enough water.
6. Eat nutritious food.
7. Take a co-worker out to lunch.
8. Bring a bowl of fruit to the office.
9. Offer a pack of gum to front desk workers.
10. Compliment someone’s shoes.
11. Tell someone you’re glad to see them.
12. Ask a disheveled person if they are okay.
13. Greet the unhoused.
14. Wave.
15. Go outside.
16. Wear a shirt with an uplifting message.
17. Support online purveyors of mental health information.
18. Check in on quiet friends.
19. Look for any “regulars” who  are missing from your groups.
20. Sit quietly near someone crying.
21. Hold a hand.
22. Send a card.
23. Reach out to relapsers.
24. Make or buy art.
25. Volunteer time.
26. Listen.
27. Give reassurance.
28. Tell a joke.
29. Share a good book.
30. Give away excess.
31. Meditate.

 

Try one of these every day. Repeat the ones that you like. See if you can keep your awareness up for the whole month. Then try it in June and July as well. Let’s keep it rolling in August and we may have less of a need for Suicide Awareness Month in September.