HOLYOKE, Mass. - While many people enjoyed a state holiday and a three-day weekend Monday, advocates went to work to raise awareness about World Mental Health Day.
In western Massachusetts, MiraVista Behavioral Health Center raised a special flag outside their Holyoke facility.
The center said around 260,000 adults in Massachusetts have a serious mental illness and they’ve coordinated more than 300,000 outpatient visits since opening 17 months ago.
The health center also said numbers from 2020 showed some 66,000 kids between the ages of 12 to 17 in Massachusetts have depression and most aren’t receiving any services.
"People with mental health illness often feel very alone," Director of Nursing & Education Erica Trudell said. "There is a lot of stigma associated with mental illness. Some people and some cultures don't believe in mental illness or the treatment that people with mental illness need to live successful lives."
Trudell said in recent years they’ve seen a large increase in cases of anxiety, but there are things people can do to address it.
"Before you enter a situation where your anxiety is feeling very high, taking 30 seconds to do some deep breathing can really help to ground you, lower your heart rate and your blood pressure," Trudell said. "It helps to eliminate that shaky kind of internal feeling that people sometimes get with anxiety."
Trudell said MiraVisa’s goal is to create an environment where people can feel comfortable having conversations about their mental health without judgment.