When you or someone you love are dealing with a mental health concern, sometimes it’s a lot to handle. It’s important to remember that mentalhealth is essential to everyone’s overall health and well being, and mentalillnesses are common and treatable. Yet, people experience symptoms of mental illness differently, and some engage in potentially dangerous or risky behaviors to avoid or cover up their symptoms. That is why this year’s theme for Mental Health Month is “Risky Business.” It is a call to educate ourselves and others about habits and behaviors that increase the risk of developing or exacerbating mental illnesses, or could be signs of mental health problems themselves. At Second Story, we ensure that the young people in our programs get access to mental health services and counseling when they need it. Risky activities like compulsive sex, physical self-harm, recreational drug use, obsessive internet use, excessive spending, or disordered exercise patterns can all be behaviors that can disrupt someone’s mental health and potentially lead them down a path towards crisis. Our staff look for these behaviors and take a compassionate approach to addressing these issues when they see them.
Second Story is glad to be a participant in Mental Health Month, and to help everyone learn that mental health is everyone’s business.