I suffer from depression and anxiety. Our mental health is no joke.
Mental illness is often invisible, but here's how to talk about it: Watch your language. Don't judge. Ask how you can help. Keep things confidential.
Wide receiver Antonio Brown made headlines ripping off his jersey and shoulder pads, then pulling off his gloves and T-shirt and running off the field, flashing a victory sign in his wake. Since then, there has been a tremendous amount of discussion about mental illness and what's happening with him.
I don’t know what’s going on in his mind, and I’m not going to speculate. Nor should others. But we can use the incident and whatever is going on with Brown to focus on the important topic of mental health issues. An overwhelming majority of Americans say we’re in the grips of a full-blown “mental health crisis,” according to a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll.
This is just the latest poll to report on the deepening mental health crisis in this country, which has seen a rise in depression, anxiety, stress, addiction and other disorders in the course of the pandemic. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults – nearly 52 million of us – live with a diagnosed mental illness, which leaves me to wonder how much higher the real number is.