{"id":341,"date":"2021-06-01T13:06:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T13:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/?p=341"},"modified":"2021-06-01T13:06:49","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T13:06:49","slug":"honoring-mental-health-awareness-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/2021\/06\/01\/honoring-mental-health-awareness-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring Mental Health Awareness Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>You know, I thought this was going to be an easy post to write. May was mental health awareness month, I am a therapist, and I just wanted to wrap up that time in a way that honored people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, as soon as my fingers hit the keyboard, the feelings started. I\u2019m going to try to slow down and articulate why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think this message felt hard because it\u2019s not only a general message but a personal one. Every single statement below has someone\u2019s face behind it. A client. A friend. A family member. Me. While the overall message is certainly for everyone, my heart is tender to the people who inspired it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, for all those who have worried if their mental health difficulties are a personal failure, I hope you can hear me speak these truths to you. Please, remember&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Depression is not weakness of character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Anxiety isn\u2019t \u201cbeing irrational.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Suicide is not selfish or \u201cthe easy way out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">OCD is not a lack of thought control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Postpartum depression is not failing as a Mom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Bipolar disorder is not \u201cbeing moody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Mental health medication is not \u201cgiving in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Going to therapy is not intended as a last resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mental illness can be so very hard. And, every day someone battles through is a victory. We must remember that these challenges are treatable and manageable but also so intense for some that we lose them to it. For this reason, empathy, grace, and self-compassion are some of the most important tools we can bring to the table, both for ourselves and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em><strong>Mental health challenges are not moral failures.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Mental-health-not-moral-failure-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Mental-health-not-moral-failure-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Mental-health-not-moral-failure-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Mental-health-not-moral-failure-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Mental-health-not-moral-failure-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Mental-health-not-moral-failure.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>You are not a failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You not alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Originally published on @annemrulo) <em>June 1, 2021. By Anne Rulo, Author, Speaker, Therapist. www.annerulo.com. FB\/IG\/Twitter @annemrulo<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You know, I thought this was going to be an easy post to write. May was mental health awareness month, I am a therapist, and I just wanted to wrap up that time in a way that honored people. But, as soon as my fingers hit the keyboard, the feelings started. I\u2019m going to try [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[8,7],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346,"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions\/346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mopip.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}