by Jim Hajny, Executive Director
May 1, 2025
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. At least for now. I say that because with all of the federal changes one never knows. What the Department of Government Efficiency will deem inefficient is anyone’s guess. May was first established as mental health awareness month in 1949 by Mental Health America the oldest mental health advocacy organization in the United States. You can take a number of mental health screenings for free on their website. They also have resources for further support. Now more than ever mental health advocates need to work to bring awareness to the importance of mental wellbeing. We are only in the first few months of 2025 and we seem to need a mental health day. I know I do. There are many changes taking place in our country. There are threats to funding for mental health support and services, discrimination towards certain groups of people, certain words are now deemed unacceptable and general uncertainty seems to be the course federally. With all the law and rule changes it is challenging to know what is acceptable from day to day. None of which helps one with mental health challenges feel settled, positive and stable. It is also discouraging to advocates such as MPN because we have worked for 14 years to reduce stigma, raise awareness and promote the many initiatives set forth by the Substance Use and Mental Health Administration. Which is now, sadly, being dismantled and defunded.
In uncertain times we need elected leaders to step up and reassure our society that things will be ok. This is not happening, instead there appears to be a misguided use of power felt not only across America but across the world. Even our allies are looking at America as mentally unhealthy. Instability causes anxiety, worry and a general lack of mental wellness. I understand that some elected officials are unaware of mental health challenges and the impacts. It is probably difficult to understand what living on the street without food, water, or sanitation can do to one’s mental health when you are a billionaire. Or the impact on one’s family’s mental health when their life’s work is deemed inefficient and eliminated.
There are some elected officials who are aware of the importance of mental wellbeing. At this critical moment we need those elected officials to step into those leadership roles and speak out. Guide us to something better. In difficult times leaders do emerge. President Franklin Roosevelt created the CCC or the Civil Conservation Corps to help Americans out of the Great Depression. The program put 3 million men to work from 1933-1942. That made America great. In the sixties musicians such as Bob Dylan wrote songs such as “Blowin’ in Wind,” which spoke to the troubling times and went on to be an anthem for the civil rights movement, which in turn led to massive changes in this country. In 1996 the Clinton-Gore Administration advocated for and signed into law the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act. Requiring insurance companies to pay for mental health services as they do any other medical service.
In uncertain times we need advocates to step up and lead also. We cannot rely upon others to be the change we want to see. The recovery movement needs to step up and lead. We've come too far to turn back decades of progress. We have created far too many supportive, compassionate, empowering, recovery orientated programs to close the doors. We also cannot allow for “lists” to be created so the government can keep track of those of us with mental health challenges for “research purposes.” This is utter nonsense. We have laws that protect the medical rights of Americans. I write this knowing that speaking out, the act of advocacy itself is under threat. Those in power do not want to hear anything that is not in line with the master plan. Advocacy cannot be suppressed. Ever. There have been many advocacy movements in this country that led to cultural changes for the good around issues such as disability, gender, race, equality and recovery. What will historians call this movement. I do not know. It is too early to say. But this mental health month I am challenging you to speak out, step up and join others in raising awareness for mental health.