NAMI rep raises awareness about mental health

HAYS COUNTY — One in five U.S. adults experiences some form of mental illness each year. Half of all lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14 and 75% by age 24, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

NAMI representatives, such as Peer Program Manager Anna Bunker of the Central Texas branch, are working to break the stigma around mental illness by providing support, educating the public and advocating for policies that support people with mental illnesses and their families.

“Mental health has a lot of stigma that surrounds it, and stigma is the biggest barrier for someone speaking up and asking for help, getting the right services that they need or just making sure that there is another community of people who are experiencing the same feelings and lived journey,” Bunker said. “Starting a conversation is one of the first ways that you can start breaking the stigma. Not only is it something where you can talk about your own lived experience, but it also gives the individual that you're talking to [an opportunity] to let them know that they are not alone. It can give them the opportunity to speak about their own mental health and you may be the first person that they may even be talking to about it … If someone is at a different stage in their recovery, it can also be like a guiding light for them.”

NAMI Central Texas, formerly known as NAMI Austin, was founded in 1984 with the mission of improving the lives of all individuals affected by mental illness through education, support and advocacy programs. It serves Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Burnet and Caldwell counties.

According to its 2022 Annual Impact Report, NAMI Central Texas had 9,596 individuals and families impacted by its programs, 2,421 events and outreach, 745 support group participants, 593 law enforcement officers trained and 167 class participants.

Getting help is something that should be done sooner rather than later, Bunker said.

“It's always important to stay ahead of the game before it gets too bad. Different warning signs can kind of vary depending on the diagnosis and sometimes, the symptoms do overlap,” she said. “The most important ones will come down to like behavioral changes, maybe like irritability or frustration, anything that's out of the norm for yourself, maybe it's extreme sadness or depression for longer than two weeks. If you're starting to like isolate yourself, there is a change in how you feel maybe about yourself, your sleeping habits [or] eating habits. Those are the universal ones across the board. Anytime that you may start to experience any of those symptoms, seek help right away, whether it is to see a psychiatrist, a primary care provider or a counselor.”

Self-care can look different for everyone but it’s important to find “the small little happiness in one day,” Bunker said.

“There is mental wellness, mental health and then mental illness that kind of fall along the lines of like a linear path. Mental wellness can come down to making sure that you're taking care of your mind and your body because they do go hand in hand. Mental health would be along the lines of making sure that you are taking care of behavioral changes. Self-care can look different for everyone, but I like to make sure that whoever I work with has a self-care toolkit. There are different things that can go into that, whether it's drinking a cup of coffee in the morning or having a hobby, whether it's something like exercise or reading,” she said. “In addition to that toolkit, they should also have people listed in their support system. So having a listed support system is also like self-care, because you're like, ‘Okay, I can have people that I can rely on.’”

“Finding the small little happiness in one day can also be something that is really beneficial to people when it comes to self-care. Because sometimes if you aren't taking care of yourself, you kind of fall farther behind with your mental health. It can incorporate a lot of different things. It just really depends on what you put in your toolkit,” she continued. “Self-care can look different than just getting manicures, pedicures and hanging out with friends. Self-care also looks like setting boundaries, making sure you're getting enough sleep and that sort of thing.”

To learn about the resources that NAMI Central Texas offers, visit www.namicentraltx.org/resources and events can be viewed on the online calendar at www.namicentraltx.org/calendar.