It’s awareness month! So, what is the purpose of an awareness month? An awareness month is all about helping raise awareness about a particular cause or issue and helping us know what we can do to help. This month at Crossroads Family Counseling Center we are focusing on awareness of five important issues related to mental health and well-being:
#1 Autism Awareness Month
#2 Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
#3 Stress Awareness Month
#4 National Child Abuse Prevention Month
#5 Alcohol Awareness Month
With so may important issues and causes to be aware of, it can be hard to keep up on all of them and be involved, so for this month’s blog, we’re going to provide a few interesting facts and a fun suggestion for how you can learn more, promote awareness, and support a worthy cause:
#1 Autism Awareness Month
- Approximately 1 in 68 children are affected by an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and boys are 5x more likely than girls to be diagnosed.
- About 50,000 individuals with ASD exit high school each year and many support services required by law end after high school.
- It is speculated that Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton were on the spectrum.
- A Fun To-Do: Check out the docuseries Love on the Spectrum (streaming on Netflix). This heartwarming series is a great way to learn more about some of the unique challenges adults on the spectrum may face when it comes to dating. Here’s a link for the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX-QbcXyZug
#2 Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
- The self-reported incidence of rape or sexual assault more than doubled from 2017 to 2018. It is estimated that 734,630 people were raped in the united states in 2018.
- Ages 12-34 are the highest risk years for rape or sexual assault.
- According to the Rape, Abuse, Incest, National Network (RAINN), 1 out of every 6 women in the US has been a victim of an attempted or completed rape. Men who attend college are 5x more likely than non-student males to be the victim of rape or sexual assault.
- A Fun To-Do: The National Sexual Violence Resource Center has a podcast all about ways we can work together to stop sexual assault and create a safer world: https://www.nsvrc.org/podcasts
#3 Stress Awareness Month
- 77% of Americans report having physical symptoms due to stress. 48% of Americans say stress has negatively impacted their personal and professional lives.
- Feeling occasional stress can be helpful, but ongoing stress can lead to serious health problems.
- One in five American college students reported in an April 2020 survey that their mental health has gotten significantly worse during the pandemic. Stress is not just a “normal rite of passage” for college students. It is a serious mental health concern.
- A Fun To-Do: Did you know that engaging in activities you enjoy reduces stress? Pretend your doctor just handed you a prescription that says, “Do something you enjoy for at least 30 minutes each day.” Now go do it!
#4 National Child Abuse Prevention Month
- It is estimated that 1 in 7 children experience abuse each year.
- “Abusers” are often ordinary people caught in challenging life situations.
- It’s important to teach children that no adult should ever ask them to keep a hurtful secret. A secret like a birthday present is okay, but a secret about someone hurting someone else is not.
- A Fun To-Do: Check out these videos from the Children’s Bureau for ideas on how you can support children in your community: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/preventionmonth/resources/multimedia-gallery/
#5 Alcohol Awareness Month
- 3% of high school seniors report that they used alcohol in the past year (NIH 2020 Monitoring the Future Survey). Alcohol use during adolescence can interfere with healthy brain development.
- About 95,000 Americans die each year from alcohol-related causes.
- About 1 in 10 children in the use lives in a home where at least one parent has an Alcohol Use Disorder.
A Fun To-Do: Sesame street has some great video resources about parental addiction. Check out the video at the bottom of this page: https://www.sesameworkshop.org/what-we-do/traumatic-experiences
Written by Susan Hardman, Ed.S., NCSP, is a nationally certified school psychologist and current James Madison University doctoral student intern in clinical and school psychology. She enjoys working with children, adolescents, adults.
