MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) works every day to raise awareness and educate the public about mental illness. The month of May is a time when we can join forces to make a bigger statement by observing Mental Health Month. Each year NAMI provides support, educates the public and advocates for equal care for the millions of Americans affected by illness—and each year the movement grows stronger. We encourage you to speak up and step out during May—whether that’s on your own or with NAMI. We believe that these issues are important to address year round, but highlighting these issues during Mental Health Awareness Month provides a time for people to come together and display the passion and strength of those working to improve the lives of the tens of millions of Americans affected by mental illness. GO GREEN FOR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS Wear a green ribbon. Pin it on your shirt or on your computer bag or backpack. Wear the green ribbon to raise awareness and to show your support of people with brain disorders. When someone asks you what the green ribbon represents, tell them that May is Mental Health Month and we are trying to inspire hope and rid stigma that is still so prevalent with mental illness in this day and age. Tell them “mental illnesses of the brain are no different than illnesses of other organs because the brain can get sick too.” Hand out green ribbons for people to wear. Wear green clothing. Be creative; don’t just limit this to your everyday wardrobe. Wear green shoelaces, dye your hair green or even paint your fingernails green!! Initiate a "Wear Green Day" at work and encourage your co-workers and friends to wear green to help spread the word. “IT’S TIME TO ELIMINATE STIGMA AND... IT’S OK...PASS IT ON!!!.” NAMI Southwestern IL Office Gateway Regional Medical Center 2100 Madison Avenue, 4th Floor Granite City, IL 62040 (618) 798-9788 http://namiswi.org