GREEN COUNTY — Each year, millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental health condition. In honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week, Oct. 4-10, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and participants across the country are raising awareness about mental illness.
The theme of this year’s MIAW is “What People with Mental Illness Want You to Know.” Each day throughout the week, they will be raising the voices of those with lived experience to talk about some of the conditions and symptoms that are most misunderstood to help people understand the complexities of mental illness and eliminate stigma.
Since 1990, when Congress officially established the first full week of October as MIAW, advocates have worked together to sponsor activities to educate the public about mental illness. They believe that mental health conditions are important to discuss year-round but highlighting them during MIAW provides a dedicated time for mental health advocates across the country to come together as one unified voice. This year, NAMI is calling on everyone to become informed and listen to the voices of people with lived experiences to increase acceptance and compassion in their communities, so no one feels alone in their struggle.
One in five adults experience mental illness every year. Although many people today understand that mental illness is a medical condition, there are still many stigmatizing misconceptions and stereotypes at large. By amplifying the voices of people with lived experience, NAMI hopes to reduce misunderstanding and discrimination. As a leading voice, NAMI Green County is helping to increase empathy and compassion for people with mental illness with this year’s MIAW campaign.
Although this has been an extremely difficult year to plan events, NAMI Green County is sponsoring Mental Health First Aid classes on Oct. 5 for Adults and Oct. 8 for Youth in Monroe. The speaker this year, Christopher Keenan, will be livestreaming on the NAMI Green County Facebook page at 10 a.m. on Oct. 6. Christopher has an amazing story to tell; his journey on navigating the mental health and forensic mental health systems will be eye opening. The annual fundraiser again will be the NAMI Walk held in conjunction with Dane County. This year due to COVID-19, the walk will be a virtual event held on Oct. 10. NAMI Dane County will be livestreaming on their Facebook page. If you are interested in joining or donating to their annual fundraiser, check out the fundraising link at https://www.namiwalks.org/team/TrevorsTeam. You can also find it easily from the NAMI GC Facebook page and Trevor’s Team - NAMI GC Facebook page. Check out their website for links at namigc.org. To donate by mail, send to Conni Bigler, PO Box 343, New Glarus WI 53574.
Other events are being scheduled and will be posted to the NAMI Green County Event page soon.
NAMI offers information about mental illness conditions, symptoms and treatment at www.nami.org or through the HelpLine at 800-950-6264. Learn more about Mental Illness Awareness Week at www.nami.org/miaw. #MentalIllnessAwarenessWeek #MIAW.