Mental Health Awareness
October offers many opportunities for awareness and openness about mental health issues and our call to understand mental health in light of each person’s dignity. Our society and our world are suffering from a significant increase in the effects of mental health issues across generational, socioeconomic, and cultural boundaries. Such pervasive suffering, societal stigma, and lack of mental health professionals creates a broad concern and call for a compassionate array of responses for our human family. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has announced the launch of a National Catholic Mental Health Campaign beginning Oct. 10, which was World Mental Health Day. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of mental health issues, help remove the stigma surrounding mental illness, and encourage those suffering to seek help.
Archbishop Borys Gudziak, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop Robert Barron, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, wrote in a statement on behalf of the USCCB: “Despite its ubiquity, mental illness and mental health challenges often remain associated with embarrassment, shame, or guilt, which can prevent people from seeking and receiving help.”
“Such a stigma contradicts the compassion of Jesus and is contrary to the foundation of Catholic social teaching,” the bishops added. “As pastors, we want to emphasize this point to anyone who is suffering from mental illness or facing mental health challenges: Nobody and nothing can alter or diminish your God-given dignity.”
Our most powerful place to begin is in prayer. The Bishops offer a Novena for Mental Health following the “Pray, Learn, Act” structure as we seek, together, to assist in healing for those we know and love who are afflicted with mental health concerns: www.usccb.org/resources/Novena%20for%20Mental%20Health%209-Days.pdf
If you are experiencing mental health challenges, you are not alone. Consider seeking help with NAMI of Southern MN (namisemn.org) or Catholic Charities of Southeastern MN (www.ccsomn.org/family-and-individual-counseling).
If you are looking to learn more about the Catholic faith and our response to mental health, contact Mary Vlazny or Michelle Schmid at the parish center.