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May is Mental Health Awareness Month
May 7, 2008
Ali Sylla /M.S and Ernest G. Smith /M.S
Mental Health Month occurs each year in May and is designed to increase awareness about mental illness.
There is a social stigma associated with mental illness in Liberia, and this stigma prevents the majority of people with mental illnesses from seeking help.
And untreated mental illness can cause suicide and heinous crime. Indeed, untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide.
Depression is the most common mental illness, but is highly treatable.
If you think you may have depression, please make appointments with a doctor and a psychotherapist so you may be assessed and treated.
All mental illnesses, including depression, need to be looked at like any other illness. And if you had any other illness you would not hesitate to get treatment. So please get treatment if you believe that you may have a mental illness.
And if any of your family members or friends appear to have a mental illness, please reach out to help them. Try to get them to see a medical doctor and a therapist. And remember that untreated depression can cause suicide.
Mental Health Awareness Week helps raise the awareness and helps reduce the stigma of mental illness.
We need to continue to raise that awareness every day of the year and ensure that people who need help in Liberia get it as quickly as possible.
Always remember that untreated depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are the number one cause for suicide.
If you any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Liberian Psychosocial Association in Monrovia, Liberia or via email for free consultation solanso07@hotmail.com or diginifyinglives@gmail.com
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