Your Mental Health Matters – Where To Turn if You Need Help

May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and now more than ever we need to look for the signs and be ready to help not just others but also ourselves. Admit it, sometimes we're so focused on helping other people that we neglect ourselves.

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In some ways, our world is (slowly) getting back to what it was pre-pandemic and we're happy about that but this last year has been brutal and so many are silently struggling with stress, anxiety, and depression are at an all-time high.

Unease is everywhere as prices continue to skyrocket with no end in sight. Gas, lumber, groceries, even chlorine prices...they're all climbing higher and higher. Adding to our anxiety is the possibility that New York State will impose a 55 cents per gallon tax making our gas tax 98 cents per gallon. Oh, and New York is also talking about raising the cost of natural gas for residential home heating units by 25 percent. Where and when will all of this madness end?

If you're feeling like you can't handle life anymore, if you feel like you're having a mental breakdown, if you feel like the weight of the world is suffocating you, the first thing you should do is to reach out to someone that you know and trust and have an open and honest discussion with them.

If you feel like there's nobody you can turn to that you personally know or are embarrassed or ashamed to admit your struggles to people close to you, there are some other places you can turn for help including the Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier.

Mental Health Association of The Southern Tier Help LIne

If you feel that you have nowhere to turn, get ahold of the Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier (MHAST). Their Peer Support Warm Line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, call them (607) 240-7291. If you are feeling overwhelmed contact the Emotional Support Hotline.

NY Project Hope Emotional Support Helpline

REACH OUT to the NY Project Hope Emotional Support Helpline by calling at 1-844-863-9314. The NY Project Hope Helpline has been established as a free and confidential helpline in response to COVID-19.