{"id":381,"date":"2021-05-04T15:10:21","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T20:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/79gifts.com\/blog\/?p=381"},"modified":"2021-05-04T15:13:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T20:13:53","slug":"may-is-mental-health-awareness-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.79gifts.com\/blog\/may-is-mental-health-awareness-month\/","title":{"rendered":"May Is Mental Health Awareness Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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There are two things I\u2019m quite familiar with: gift baskets and the mental health rollercoaster. In fact, these worlds intersect because many of our baskets have items aimed to pamper and reduce stress. 
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I\u2019m an open book when it comes to my experience with clinical depression, so mental health awareness and advocacy is near and dear to my heart. Since I like to indulge my readers with statistics, it\u2019s important to note that millions of people are affected by mental illness each year<\/a>: one in 25 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness, and 17 percent of youth ages 6 – 17 experience a mental health disorder.\u00a0
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This is serious stuff, and given the last excruciating 14 months, this year\u2019s Mental Health Awareness Month, may be the most significant one yet. 
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Oh, What a Year<\/strong>
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Not that I want to give 2020 any more attention, since I was happy to let the door hit it on the way out, but bear with me. 
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According to the The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a>, Americans experienced symptoms of depression from April through June of 2020 at a rate four times that of the same time period in 2019. Symptoms of anxiety saw a threefold increase. The American Psychological Association (APA) surveyed providers and found 74% reported that more patients are presenting with anxiety disorders than before COVID.
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It sounds dire, I know, but there\u2019s a silver lining here: people are proactively seeking help. That same APA survey revealed that psychologists are receiving more referrals, treating more patients, and experiencing fewer cancellations. Yes, people are hurting, but they\u2019re also taking action to address their struggles like never before.
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Helpful Resources<\/strong>
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There are so many resources available to educate you on mental illness and point you in the right direction for treatment. Let\u2019s start here:
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