Talking about thoughts, feelings, and mental health can be tough. But sharing our struggles opens the door to help and healing. The Dare to Share campaign features celebrities and kids telling powerful stories about their own challenges and how they found the courage to ask for support.

Mental health is an important part of overall health and well-being. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Reducing the stigma around mental illness has never been more important than it is now. It’s estimated that nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States currently live with a mental illness. It matters what words we use—and what actions we take that back up all the talking.

Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental illness. During May, the National Alliance on Mental Illness joins the national movement to raise awareness about mental health. Each year they fight stigma, provide support, educate the public and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.

The CDC Foundation provides support for the How Right Now communications campaign designed to promote and strengthen the emotional well-being and resiliency of populations adversely affected by COVID-19–related stress, grief, and loss. 

This webinar recording from October 2021 discusses the strain public health workers have been under during the COVID-19 pandemic and provides solutions for improving morale and mental health.