The month of May is designated as Mental Health Awareness Month. It gives us a special opportunity to recognize that mental well-being is just as important as our physical well-being.
If someone is struggling with arthritis and joint issues, we would encourage them to see an orthopedic specialist. If someone is taking medications for high blood pressure or heart issues, we would encourage them to take that medication regularly. If someone is working to manage diabetes we would encourage them to see their doctor. In the same manner, if someone is struggling with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues, we should want to encourage them to see their doctor, talk with a counselor and take their prescribed medications regularly. It is important that we support and encourage one another in tending to and maintaining wholeness in body, mind and spirit.
All kinds of resources are available to help us learn more and to talk more openly with one another about important health concerns such as anxiety, depression, suicide and grief. The reasons for this is because the statistics related to mental health concerns are so high and effect so many people we love. We have to work together to break the stigmas attached to mental health and normalize the conversation in healthy ways that care for one another.
This Month, the South Carolina Synod Children, Youth and Family Ministry Newsletter is focused on Mental Health Awareness and offers many resources for the work with children and teens. We hope you receive Deacon Deborah Poole’s newsletter and have a chance to look into these resources. We also want to share links to two articles related to Mental Health that could be helpful to you in learning more. Both come from Lutheran sources. One was written in the midst of the Covid19 Pandemic, but continues to have great value to us today as we continue to navigate challenging times.
We hope the resources are helpful to you. We pray that you are well and taking care of your whole health, and that as the people of God in this church we are finding ways to reach out to each other and check in to be sure those we love in our family, in our workplace and friend groups and in our congregations know that they are cared for and loved.
In Christ,
+Bishop Ginny
Additional Resources
Mental Health: Always Top of Mind – https://porticobenefits.org/mental-health-always-top-of-mind/
ELCA Social Message: The Body of Christ and Mental Illness – https://www.elca.org/faith/faith-and-society/social-messages/mental-illness
