The Shades of Advocacy in Mental Health

Recipe

Sep 29

Mental health is as important as physical health. I know that seems like a no brainer statement to many. Yet, it’s necessary to repeat over and over again because somehow it seems to get lost. Times have changed a bit, especially since the pandemic, and mental health has received more attention. However, there is still work to be done around increasing awareness and access to mental health services. There are other aspects that need advocacy, as well. Things like cultural relevance. For now, though, the focus will be on awareness and access.

Advocacy Is…

Advocacy is considered many things.

Advocacy is one of 11 areas for action in policies surrounding mental health due to its benefits for people who have a mental health concern and their families (Saha, 2021). Given the nature and scope of advocacy, there are several different forms that advocacy can take. These include, but are not limited to: raising awareness, sharing credible information, education, training, mutual help, counseling, mediating, defunding, and denouncing, all focused on barrier reduction arising from limited mental health services, mental health stigma, clients’ rights violation, lack of mental health promotion, and dearth of housing and job security (Saha, 2021). The last one on the list is interesting because it also asks us to consider social determinants of behavioral health. There are many factors that influence mental health, and all are deserving of our attention and advocacy.

Advocacy is vital for raising awareness about mental health issues and making sure that mental health is in the minds of our elected representatives, which has the potential to lead to changes in policy, legislation, and the development of services (Saha, 2021). That means we can send emails to our elected representatives, go to legislative hearings, attend awareness events, or show up to advocacy days, for example.

Advocacy is also part of our daily actions. It does not have to just like what was discussed above. Here are a couple examples. One, we can be mindful of our language when it comes to speaking about mental health and be willing to kindly encourage others to be mindful of their language. Using wording like ‘a person with a diagnosis’ instead of a ‘depressed person,’ for example. Or saying ‘died by suicide’ rather than ‘committed suicide.’ Another example is addressing our own biases and misunderstandings. When we leave our biases unexamined, they can directly impact our thoughts and actions.

Advocacy is creative! It can take the form of art work, dance, or theatre, for example. There’s space for us to find our passion and allow the expression to be one that suits our personalities. We can even consider sports as a potential form of advocacy. Many athletes have used their sport as a way to speak about a cause that is important to them. There is space for all of us to be mental health advocates! Check out some of the videos in the learn more section to see a couple different examples. A couple of them are specifically for mental health professionals, but they are still worth watching because they provide good insights.

Advocacy is a choice. We do not have to be advocates. We need to decide for ourselves whether that is something that we want in our lives. It is something we need to decide if we have the safety to do. Sometimes advocacy can be a privilege because we may not experience the same potential repercussions that others may.

One final parting quote for this post -

“Advocacy is empathy, compassion, and community at work.”

-Janna Cachola