ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Over the past few months, lime green benches have appeared in Orange County’s leafy parks.
The benches are part of an effort to raise awareness for mental health, the lime green serving as the official color. Other awareness campaigns for health have their own colors, like breast cancer. A pink ribbon has become broadly associated with breast cancer, serving as a reminder to everyone who sees it and inspiring awareness campaigns from large brands like the NFL.
Christine Cornwall, director of Community Health Investment for Mission Hospital, helped come up with the campaign. The movement began in Orange County earlier this year and has been responsible for the creation of lime green benches in 11 locations. She’s hoping it’ll catch on.
“It’s about getting people comfortable talking about mental health,” she said. “Our minds are just as important as our bodies, but there’s this stigma around mental health.”
The benches are a part of a larger campaign called Promise to Talk, which encourages people to talk about their emotional health or simply listen to someone in need of a listener.
The program has encouraged about 8,400 people to make pledges to talk about mental health. The program does not refer people to therapists.
But Cornwell said there’s still a lot of work to be done to create awareness for mental health and the benches are just one tool.
Mental health is a growing area of concern for all levels of leadership, from elementary schools, colleges to corporate management. Orange County has created a series of programs designed to secure mental health responses services for all people.
“Sometimes I think about it like hypertension. Hypertension itself is called the silent killer because if you don’t know about it, it can lead to a heart attack and death. Mental health can be similar because if you don’t recognize it and take the necessary steps, it can lead to dangerous results,” she said. “My ultimate goal would be to have these lime green benches in every park in Orange County.”