Save Lives. Spread Hope. Prevent Suicide.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we at CHL are excited to celebrate this important annual event. As I mentioned in our last newsletter, mental health is crucial to our overall well-being; in fact, we cannot separate our mental health from our physical health. As the popular phrase goes, "Mental Health is Health." To support this message, I would like to share some helpful resources that you can explore further. These resources will provide insights on how you can prioritize your mental health and enhance your overall well-being.

Our partners at the National Mental Health Corps of America have shared some great information about Mental Health Action Day which is coming up on May 15th. This event was founded to shift our mental health culture from awareness to action. This year's call to action encourages us to check in with others using A.S.K., the “stop, drop, and roll” for providing emotional support for the people in our lives.

This is an excellent opportunity to learn how you can help yourself or someone you care about, not just in May, but throughout the year. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has some fantastic resources available for Mental Health Awareness Month, including weekly themes to focus on throughout May. Their team has curated great toolkits to help you learn more about mental health issues and to promote Mental Health Awareness Month within your professional and personal networks.

Another trusted partner in this work, Mental Health America, has some excellent resources to share as well. From May 5th to 11th, we will observe Maternal Mental Health Awareness week drawing attention to an issue that has long needed awareness. For too long, parents and particularly mothers have lived with stigma related to their mental health during pregnancy or after having a child, and we now know that this is an issue that can be effectively addressed when people are comfortable reaching out for and receiving the support they need around this issue.

Additionally, May 7th is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day. Our young people are growing up in a rapidly changing world, with social media and screen time competing for their attention, along with pressures from school and peers, and the inherent changes that come with adolescence. It is crucial for adults to provide support to youth and encourage them to find positive outlets for their health and well-being.

CHL’s Umatter® for Youth and Young Adults (YYA) is a fantastic program we plan to implement again in the upcoming 2025-26 school year. This is a great example of the type of support that can make a real difference in the lives of young people.

Here at CHL, we are busy with our work and staying focused on supporting the work of suicide prevention in Vermont and beyond.  As I mentioned in the April newsletter, CHL is now part of the Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention effort here in Vermont. We are excited to be part of the ongoing efforts to move things forward with this important work in alignment with Vermont’s first Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan. We are also working in collaboration with the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) to complete work on the Center for Disease Control’s Comprehensive Suicide Prevention grant, which culminates this August. We are hopeful about the possibility of supporting VDH in applying for this grant again if the opportunity arises.

Our work with the SAMHSA AWARE grant continues, and we will engage with our partners in this work at the BEST conference in Killington at the end of June. This will help us coordinate our efforts as we prepare to continue into the third year of this grant, which begins in October. As always, CHL has training offerings for suicide prevention coming up, and you can find out more on our Training webpage. You can now also visit the new FacingSuicideVT trainings and events page, which lists all upcoming suicide prevention-related activities in one centralized site.

We hope you will take time in May to learn more about mental health care for yourself and others. We encourage you to take some time in May to learn more about mental health care for yourself and others. Many of us often neglect our mental and emotional wellbeing, and this can have negative impacts in our lives. By prioritizing your mental health, you will not only improve your own life but also contribute positively to the larger communities in which we live.

Wishing you a Happy Spring!