May is Mental Health Awareness Month
We must break the stigma associated with seeking mental health support.
Mental health refers to our emotional and social well-being. It impacts how we think, feel, and behave. It plays a role in connecting with others, making decisions, coping with stress, and handling other aspects of life. According to National Alliance on Mental Illness, “ 1 in 5 people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime and the average delay between symptom onset and treatment is 11 years. It is NEVER too early to seek treatment for your mental health.”
Immigrant populations often face unique challenges. Many of these challenges are rooted within the immigration system. From challenges faced in one's home country to those experienced in the immigration journey to being forced to go through extremely complex and adversarial legal proceedings to needing to adapt to a new life in an unfamiliar environment and a society that can be unwelcoming and even cruel.
Many of the clients RMIAN serves have undergone significant traumatic life experiences. The experience of trauma is often a factor in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or depression, among other challenges. The process of being forced to relive this trauma multiple times throughout one’s legal case exacerbates mental health challenges. And for some, the act of sharing their pain can be frightening.
Raising awareness of the importance of mental health within the community and among families helps fight cultural stigma, spreads understanding, facilitates community support, and spreads awareness of available resources.
Since 2010, RMIAN’s Social Service Project has provided integrated and holistic care to clients experiencing behavioral health challenges, physical or mental disabilities, and other realities that make the immigration legal system difficult to endure. RMIAN is proud to help clients navigate the mental and physical health challenges faced by clients, including those created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. RMIAN continues to innovate ways of raising awareness of mental health, bringing families together, healing our community, and building resilience.
We encourage you to speak up and advocate for the importance of mental health awareness within your community. For 24/7 free support and to speak with a trained professional, call the resource crisis line at 1-844-493-8255 or text TALK to 38255.
If you are interested in providing medical and mental health forensic evaluations for RMIAN clients, please visit www.rmian.org/volunteer. If you would like to find out other ways to support clients detained at GEO, visit www.casadepazcolorado.org