I’ll be honest, I had no clue mental health awareness day was today. I didn’t go to sleep last night thinking about mental health awareness day… I honestly didn’t know it existed. But with how many “Days” we have, I’m not surprised. And god damn I’m so glad it exists.
Today has been weird. I’ve so enjoyed seeing all of my friends on Facebook sharing various things about mental health awareness day. But it also has made me wonder, what if every day was like today?
What if the heightened awareness of mental health and desire to support people as displayed today, was everyday? Perhaps that’s a bit utopian of me, but that’s the world I’d love to see. Imagine if everyone had open dialogue, imagine no stigmas around mental health.
Wouldn’t that be fantastic??
And just imagine if our world was more preventative instead of reactive towards mental health? Do we need more psychiatrists? Absolutely. But imagine a world where we didn’t need any.
Once again, a very utopian idea.
But I think it leads to a dialogue that is important to me. Beyond having mental health awareness, removing stigmas and being there for one another, I dream of a future where the companies, coworkers, and leaders we work for lead us towards happier lives; not more stress.
As a society, we need to embrace being preventative about mental health… let’s aim for more dialogue before mental health is a concern.
According to various studies, Half of millennials and 75% of Gen-Zers have quit jobs for mental health reasons. That’s frightening, but also enlightening. It’s refreshing to see that I’m not alone in how my professional life has impacted my mental health…. And perhaps it’s also an indicator that overtime, companies will begin competing on who has the happiest, most mentally secure employees.
Instead of unique office perks and unlimited food, perhaps the latest hot perks will be 45 hour limits on work weeks, unlimited mental health coverage, and generous time off.
Let’s take the energy from Mental Health Awareness Day and make a better future for us all.
Behind The Suit 