By Rev. Brittany Graves

It is more than likely that you have needed to take additional measures or different methods to sustain your mental health now versus pre-COVID. Depending on how circumstances have shifted or changed for you in the past 15 months, so have the ways to care for yourself. It is important to name the prevalent issues that are still present, new, or amplified for you, personally and collectively. It is one of the first steps in moving toward the desired headspace wanted for oneself and may serve as a helpful antidote to uplift others.

While some of the challenges we face may not change overnight, our reaction and engagement with any given circumstance can. Personally, counseling, spiritual direction and energy work are a few of the game changers that have aided me on my journey. A lot of it came with overcoming the stigma of going to a practitioner to flesh out my mental health or spiritual traumas.

I wonder how much more healed our world could be if faith leaders advocated for liberation through mental health more intentionally and confront any skepticism about it healthily. According to a national survey, 59% of people feel their mental health is impacted by the pandemic. In this month of mental health awareness, let us be continually fueled to face mental health for ourselves, to better support others and provide resources to prompt wellness.

Questions to consider:

  • What resources are you connected to engage mental health for yourself or others?
  • Have you had to overcome skepticism concerning mental health awareness in your lifetime?
  • What factors impact your own mental health, or have you seen it impact your community?

What you can do:

  • Embrace acceptance. Be open and inclusive in speaking about mental health.
  • Identify opportunities to offer support or direction.

Prayer:

In the many ways we are impacted by mental health, may we stay tuned in to care for ourselves and be mindful of how the community we exist around are equipped to support themselves. There is an abundance of resources that can help us on our journey toward wholeness. Let us tap into the guidance that can positively create wellness and stability. Just by raising awareness about mental health we lift any stigma or shame associated with it. May we be challenged to liberate any harmful ideology that prevents us from taking mental health seriously.   

 

Rev. Brittany Graves is associate coordinator, Public Witness & Advocacy, American Baptist Home Mission Societies. She welcomes your input at [email protected] and engagement on Instagram @ambitiouslyBrittany.

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