Mental Health Action Day 2023: The power of an hour
There’s a lot you can do within an hour. You could watch your favorite TV show, get your steps in, or even cook a fancy dinner.
But when it comes to our well-being and taking intentional steps to rest, recover, and cope with difficult emotions, we tend to downplay what we can accomplish in 60 minutes.
On days when it feels hard to catch a break and slow down, it’s important to remember how much we can do with the time we have. We don’t need to drop everything we’re doing to prioritize ourselves. In fact, My Good Brain believes that art, play, and mental wellness is a continuous effort that we can make space for every single day.
This May 18th, 2023, My Good Brain and partners of MTV Entertainment Group came together to celebrate the power of an hour this Mental Health Action Day.
Our mission? To show young people and their families that it’s always possible to make time for our mental health.
With just one hour, you can take action — to take care of yourself, your loved ones, or the communities you love and appreciate. Let’s take a look at why mental health action is important and what we can do about it.
Signs and symptoms of mental health in youth
Mental Health America reports that in 2022, 15% of youth aged 12 to 17 reported suffering from at least one major depressive episode. The report also states that despite childhood depression being more likely to persist into adulthood, only half of children with pediatric major depression are diagnosed before adulthood.
This year, we continue to push for schools, families and communities to act on youth mental health by being aware, informed, and compassionate about mental health signs and symptoms.
Common mental health conditions in youth include:
Major depressive disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder
Social anxiety
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Disruptive behavioral disorders
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Addiction
Eating disorders
💡 Check out this blog for a full list of signs and symptoms of each of the mental health conditions above
How you can take action toward your mental health
What does it mean to ‘take action’?
Well, it depends. Everyone has different starting points in their mental health journey and different needs. But regardless of where you are and how much support you have around you, there are always avenues you can take or modify to make mental health action work for you.
Take a mental health screening
You can take a mental health screening with a doctor, mental health professional, counselor, or online self-assessment tools. Mental health screenings are not meant to replace complete professional evaluations by professionals. A screening is made up of a brief questionnaire that individuals can use to identify general signs of mental health concerns. This can typically take a few minutes to half an hour depending on the comprehensiveness of the questionnaire. Here are a few examples:
Parent Test is a screening by parents of young people to identify signs and symptoms in their children’s behaviors and emotions
Attend therapy sessions
If children show symptoms of mental health disorders for a prolonged period of time, therapy is a potential option for families to consider. The idea of therapy can be scary. Some families also have the false assumption that therapy requires too much time and preparation, hence only turning to therapy as a last resort. But according to the therapist matching service, Mental Health Match, a typical therapy session can run between 40 to 60 minutes long. In a guide to helping individuals prepare for therapy sessions, the organization states that “you usually don’t have to prepare for therapy. Simply come with an open mind and curiosity about yourself.”
Practice deep breathing exercises
Breathing exercises are a powerful way to create a calming environment and reduce anxiety. These exercises can be done by young children and teens by themselves, or they can be conducted as a group activity with family and friends. Breathing exercises are quick and can be done anywhere, making them a perfect activity to fit into any busy routine. An example of an easy breathing exercise is belly breathing. Here are a few steps to get started with deep belly breathing according to Children’s Health:
Breathe normally and to check in on how you’re feeling at that point in time
Place one hand above your belly button and the other hand on your upper chest
Take a deep breath in through the nose. Breathe in so you feel the air fill your lungs and move downwards toward your belly
Breathe out slowly through the mouth and lower your hand away from your belly button
Take a few of these deep breaths and check in again on how you’re feeling
Listen to music
Music is a companion through good times and hard times. On days when you’re feeling stressed, demotivated, and unhappy, music is a great way to help you focus your mind elsewhere or to find comfort in the emotions you’re experiencing. This year, My Good Brain invited individuals of all ages to spend one hour taking care of their mental wellness by listening to music. We created a playlist on Spotify that you can follow and listen to if you’re looking for something fun, catchy, or cozy.
In this video with artists Francisco Martin and Andre Henry, they sit down to talk to us about how they’ve used music to guide and influence their mental health journey. From daily bouts of anxiety to loneliness and spells of depression, the artists share the importance of addressing mental health symptoms and seeking out support.
Create art
Creative activities like arts and crafts, drawing, painting, writing, and more are excellent outlets for children to express themselves and find comfort from negative feelings. At My Good Brain, we give teachers, caregivers, and families the resources they need to have art be a coping tool for children of all ages. Regardless of how much time you have or what supplies you have laying around the house, we believe that there’s a way for children and families to use art as a bridge toward open and safe spaces for honest communication. Take a look at the blogs below for some ideas of creative activities that you can create at home:
🎨 Learn more about how My Good Brain helps schools around the Bay Area take action toward improving youth mental health through our Tool Kit program
Build a self-care routine
One hour is a good amount of time for children to engage in a self-care routine to prepare for or wind down from a busy day. For example, young kids and teens can create a calm and healthy space at home at the end of the day so they don’t bring their stress and worries to bed with them. After school, parents and caregivers can encourage spending an hour on one or more habits like meditating, journaling, going for walks, exercising, and even just sitting down to talk comfortably about the day.
Helpful resources to get started
Check out My Good Brain’s resource page for Mental Health Action Day for infographics and
Infographics on the benefits of mental health action, art, and play
My Good Brain’s Sunday Art Club: Step-by-step tutorials for art activities to do at home, created by the My Good Brain team!
Mental Health is Health: An initiative by MTV Entertainment Group to normalize conversation and create a connection to resources
Mindfulness for teens: Guided meditations, videos, books, and apps to help teens handle stressful situations
Lives in the Balance: Ideas for parents on how to assist concerning behaviors in children through the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions model
Resources by the National Alliance on Mental Illness: Tips, videos, and next steps to take action on the mental health of kids, teens, and young adults
15 children’s books to celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion
Support My Good Brain for Mental Health Action Day 2023
For Mental Health Action Day, our goal is to raise $2000 by the end of May. With your support and generosity, we are raising funds to help us..
Deliver more SF Bay Area in-person events, covering the costs of art materials, travel, advertising & marketing, and other event-related costs
Provide more art therapy Tool Kits for our upcoming Fall 2023 school year.
We appreciate all your support! 🧡🎨🧠
