Education

What is Mental Health Awareness Month?
Mental Health Awareness Month was established in the United States in 1949 in large part through the resilience and advocacy of Clifford W. Beers.

His life story is important and inspirational. Mr. Beers graduated from Yale University in 1897. While there, he
experienced periods of depression, anxiety, and distress. A few years later, in June 1900, he tried to kill himself by
throwing himself out of a window in his family home.

He survived the suicide attempt and was taken to a hospital for his physical wounds. He began to experience
hallucinations and paranoia. Later that year, he underwent the first of several stays at psychiatric institutions that
continued off and on through 1904.

While psychiatrically hospitalized, Clifford Beers experienced and witnessed dehumanizing practices including
long periods of isolation in a locked room and physical abuse by hospital caretakers. Mr. Beers was once in a
straitjacket for 21 consecutive nights.

Mr. Beers wrote about his experiences in A Mind That Found Itself (1908). This began a movement to reform
treatment practices in psychiatric hospitals and reduce stigma surrounding mental health. He opened the Clifford
Beers Clinic in New Haven, CT in 1913, the first outpatient mental health clinic in the United States.

Mental health treatment in the United States has improved greatly since Mr. Beers’ time.

We still have a long way to go to reach the ideals the World Health Organization has set out for humanity

Training

References
https://mhanational.org/our-history
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2978191/
https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/mental-health-promoting-and-protecting-human-rights

Mental Health Treatment for Children, Teens, and Adults

How can we raise awareness?
Educate ourselves about mental health and mental illness.

Share what we learn with others.

Be kind to ourselves and pay attention to what we feel, think, and do.

If we notice signs of mental illness or
distress, we can reach out to a mental health professional.

If we sense these things in friends or family, we can encourage them to seek help.

Pay attention to inaccurate stereotypes about mental illness that we encounter in movies, books, or social media.

We can notice when others make hurtful comments about mental illness or perpetuate harmful myths.

If we are in an environment where we feel safe, we can speak up at these times.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is an important resource. NAMI offers educational materials,
support groups, and ideas for advocacy.
Here is their website: https://www.nami.org/

Mental illness can touch any of our lives. Each one of us, regardless of our educational attainment, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, gender, or socioeconomic status deserves respectful, compassionate, and high-quality care to
support our mental health.

Insurance

Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month?

I invite you to make a special effort this month to increase mental health awareness.

Deborah A. O'Donnell, PhD,

Clinical Psychologist, LLC

Dr. O'Donnell accepts:

Medicare

Tricare/Humana Military

Dr. O'Donnell is an out-of-network provider for other health insurance companies

What is Mental Health?
The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that mental health is a basic human right: “A state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”

“Everyone, whoever and wherever they are, has a deserving and inherent right to the highest attainable standard of mental health”.

Unfortunately, both here and abroad, this basic human right is at times overlooked, denied, or stigmatized.

Raising awareness about mental health and mental illness is crucial.

As you’ll see below, we have Clifford W. Beers to thank for helping our country move towards achieving this goal.

Dr. O'Donnell completed clinical training at Yale University:

-Center for Anxiety and Mood Disorders

-Center for Eating and Weight Disorders

-Child Study Center

-Parenting Center