[Ohio-Talk] May is mental health awareness month

[marianne at denningweb.com]

May is mental health awareness month. I am Marianne Denning and I have
moderate depression that is managed with medication combined with therapy on
an occasional basis. I am not a professional in the field of mental health
so anything in this email is based on my experiences and observations.
People who are legally blind can also have mental health concerns. Some
people deal with depression and anxiety because they are losing vision and
others have mental health concerns that are similar to the general
population. I believe that obtaining mental health services for people who
are blind can come with many challenges. Since we are discriminated against
in so many areas of our lives we may be hesitant to seek help. If we
schedule an appointment with a professional in the field of mental health
they may want to talk about our blindness rather than the reason we are
seeking assistance. They may feel uncomfortable because they don't know how
to work with a person who is blind. Many insurance providers do not treat
mental health with the same level of concern as they treat physical health
issues. This can increase the level of anxiety and depression we experience
and may prevent us from seeking assistance. For all of these reasons and
many more I hope people in the NFB will discuss their experiences navigating
mental health services. It is past time that mental illness is no longer the
dirty little secret that can't be discussed.

 

Whether you have a mental health concern or not you may have times of
depression, anxiety and other feelings you are trying to manage. It is as
important to be aware of and manage your mental health as it is to manage
your physical health. There are many things all of us can do to improve our
mental health. I will be sharing some as we go through May and I hope others
will talk about what they do to improve their mental health. 

 

If you prefer to contact me off list my email is:

marianne at denningweb.com