May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Unfortunately, Montana traditionally falls below national averages, and is often near the bottom of many mental health metrics, including suicide rate. In a recent flash poll of our Incentive Program participants we asked, “How are you feeling today?” Here are the results of that snapshot:
| Awesome! | 26% |
| Pretty good | 55% |
| Just OK | 15% |
| Not so great | 4% |
First off, for over 80% of our population to be feeling pretty good or awesome is, well, AWESOME! To be fair, the poll was administered on a Friday, so that probably helped. And, of course, our moods and dispositions shift all the time depending on a myriad of factors. It’s when we can’t get out of feeling stuck on “Just OK” or “Not so great” when more serious health issues can arise. I recently came across a simple journaling activity entitled Staying Sane in the Time of COVID. It was meant to be a mental health exercise for people in quarantine or lock-down. But I think this exercise could be useful at anytime, especially if you are feeling “Just OK” or “Not so great”. The practice is to write responses to these six questions daily:
- What am I grateful for today?
- Who am I checking in on or connecting with today?
- What expectations of “normal” am I letting go of today?
- How am I getting outside today?
- How am I moving my body today?
- What beauty am I creating, cultivating, or inviting in today?
If you need a little mental health or mood boost, give this exercise a try this month!
Speaking of exercise and getting outside, May is also National Bike Month, and I can tell you bikes are excellent for your mental health (physical health too)!
Here are some other mental health resources to explore this month:
- MUS EAP (Employee Assistance Program)
- 24/7 assistance: 866-750-1327
- Practice mIndfulness and meditation with Whil as part of our MUS Wellness Incentive Program
- Mental Health Awareness Month (NAMI)
- Mental Health America
Montana Moves 
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