In Recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month May is a plethora of recognition campaigns: Mental Health Awareness Month; Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month; Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day (May 9); and National Prevention Week (May 12-18). Our focus in this article is on Mental Health Awareness Month: its history, the stigma of mental health in marginalized communities, what Marin City Health and Wellness Center is doing to break taboos, and what individuals can do to help themselves and others—not just in May, but at any time throughout the year. Clifford Beers and the history behind mental health awareness month Clifford W. Beers, a sufferer of depression and anxiety, became the father of what was initially known as the mental hygiene…
