MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH!

Mental Health Community Care at the Y

Posted on May 2, 2024 by - YMCA News

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YMCA of Greater Nashua, Mental Health Awareness Month

YMCA of Greater Nashua Encourages Community to Share Mental Health Facts

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the YMCA of Greater Nashua is encouraging community members to join the conversation about mental health.

Mental health is how we think, feel and act. At the Y, we recognize that we all have mental health, and mental health is an important part of our physical health and social-emotional well-being, as well as a core component of our identity.

“We can all play a role in supporting each other’s mental health – at the Y and in our communities,” said Megan Gibeau, the Y’s Chief Mission Advancement Officer.  “The first step is to start talking in our communities about what mental health really is.”

“The YMCA of Greater Nashua understands that our organization plays a critical role in helping people take care of their mental health. Whether it is getting in an early morning swim, play mah-jong with friends or getting together with parents you met in child care, being at the Y improves all of our mental health. We also understand that there is more that we can do. We have committed to celebrating mental health at the YMCA and providing more resources to our members, staff and volunteers to help improve how we think, act and feel. To that end, we have created the YMCA Wellbeing Center at the Nashua Branch. The Wellbeing Center has a mind/body studio for activities such as mindfulness, meditation, sound therapy and more as well as a classroom for small group programs such as workshops, seminars, support groups and other opportunities to help people with their social, emotional and mental wellbeing. We are working with community partners in this effort and we look forward to sharing the center and it’s programs with you,” said Joseph Manzoli, the Y’s Chief Operating Officer.

Help the Y get the conversation going about mental health this Mental Health Awareness Month by sharing these facts with your friends and family:

The Y supports the mental health of individuals and communities in all the work we do to help people reach their full potential—whether that’s teaching life skills to youth in our summer camps, supporting our staff, helping people achieve their best physical health or helping newcomer immigrants access services. This type of non-clinical support is called “community care” and includes:

  • Understanding mental health as something we all have—it is how we think, feel, and act.

  • Applying positive self-care practices routinely.

  • Engaging in conversations in a genuine way, with empathy and the intent of building meaningful relationships.

  • Understanding and applying trauma-informed guiding principles when interacting with others.

  • Understanding the impact of social determinants of health, systemic racism, discrimination and marginalization on mental health.

  • Modeling emotion regulation, co-regulation, and effective coping skills.

  • Recognizing signs that someone may be struggling.

  • Connecting individuals to primary and specialty support when needed.

  • Providing initial response in crisis situations.

  • Initiating dialogue and collaborating with others to embed mental health informal care support throughout the community.

 

All the above are informed by practices found in social-emotional learning, trauma-informed care and suicide prevention. Through this work, we can reduce the risk and impact of mental illness, provide early intervention, and support the process of healing and recovery. We also provide a critical bridge to formal mental health care providers when needed.

Everyone can play a role in mental health community care. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Y encourages you to identify simple ways you can care for yourself and others, such as:

  • Using your powers of observation to notice when someone may be struggling with a hard day, moment or situation.

  • Intentionally asking “how are you?” and encouraging honest answers so others can share and feel heard.

  • Bringing empathy, compassion and kindness to your daily interactions.

  • When you notice someone struggling, connecting them to mental health resources like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-8255 or https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org).

 

Visit www.nmymca.org/wellbeing-center to learn more about what our Y provides in terms of mental health community care.

 

DONATE TO TRANSFORM LIVES

Your donation help us save and transform lives! Help us keep mental health programs and support mechanisms available to everyone in our community, regardless of their ability to pay.