May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and NAMI is asking, WhyCare?

Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental illness. During May, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is one of the largest organizations raising awareness of mental health, and has been doing so for over 40 years. The NAMI website states: “Each year we fight stigma, provide support, educate the public and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.”

The NAMI WhyCare? campaign is an opportunity to share the importance of care in your relationships to others, in mental health treatment and services and in support and education to millions of people, families, caregivers and loved ones affected by mental illness. Demonstrating how and why we all should care brings more to awareness by showing your actions and connections to others.

Care is a simple four-letter word, but a powerful way to change lives for people affected by mental illness.

Care has the power to make a life-changing impact on those affected by mental health conditions. Through our own words and actions, we can shift the social and systemic barriers that prevent people from building better lives.

Care is an action. It’s a feeling. It’s a gift we give to ourselves and to each other.  When we care: People feel loved. People feel heard. People recover. When people care, society, and entire systems, can change.

There are many ways to get involved and spread the message of WhyCare? You can show that you care through awareness, support and advocacy. You can share information, images and graphics to tell others what #WhyCare means to you. NAMI wants to hear your stories: why you care for others, how support from others has helped you or what it means to have access to care.

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