While there is no whole month that is dedicated as a women’s mental health month, there is however a considerable part of May that is essentially dedicated to women’s mental health. We are here to talk about how that is a necessity and how important it is for spreading awareness about women’s mental wellness. Let’s read on:
When is Women’s Mental Health Awareness Month?
While there is no whole month dedicated as a women’s mental health month, women’s Mental Health Week begins each year on Mother’s Day in May. And the next one is taking place from May 12 to May 16, 2025. These dates will act as an annual celebration and opportunity to educate women about the importance of good mental health. However, it does not have to be a thumb rule that Women’s Mental Health Week can be Women’s Mental Health Month.
This is because everyone has a different example of what Women’s Mental Health Month ought to be. For example, according to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition, Women’s Health Month 2025 will take place from the 1st to the 31st of May.
Women’s Mental Health Awareness Month can be defined as you want it to be. For some, it can even be in March. So it totally depends on your definition of it but predominantly it happens in May, usually after Mother’s Day. This tells us that May is women’s health month essentially most of the time.
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What is Women’s Mental Health Awareness Month For?
A lot of the time, female health (especially the mental ones) concerns often go invalidated and underappreciated or have a stigma attached to them. It is high time we move forward and above that. Women’s mental issues like postpartum depression or even physical ones such as bacterial vaginosis go undecided just because of the stigma attached to it even when it shouldn’t be like that. Something like Endometriosis, which is a serious condition, is being called “normal period pain” to heart attacks in women and is misdiagnosed as anxiety a lot of times. Again, it shouldn’t be like that. If physical conditions like these are considered to be something critical, how are mental issues going to surpass them? Things like Schizophrenia and insomnia are also common in women, so there is a big need for reasoning awareness promptly
Even women come under the guise of stigma and avoid going to mental health professionals due to that stigma even when it becomes a danger to them. This is the main cause of why so many mental issues related to women go unreported. A women’s mental health awareness month can change that considerably and will motivate women all over the world to change their perception and point of view to the one where they are comfortable to share their mental issues and seeking mental help for that.
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Women’s Mental Health Month will likely equip women with the knowledge and bodily autonomy needed to advocate for their own health. Psychoeducation and an empathic understanding of women’s mental health are vital for turning the state of female health around and giving them the validation they rightly deserve.
How Does Women’s Mental Health Awareness Impact the Workplace or Educational Institutions?
Rather than asking questions like “Is there a women’s mental health month?”, or “When is women’s mental health month?”, you should be asking a question like how does women’s mental health awareness impact the workplace or educational institutions.
It is important for you to ask that otherwise there will be no point in ensuring a women’s mental health awareness month is in place. In the workplace, it is important for women and transgender people to feel like their health concerns are valid and heard in every way possible. Again, a women’s mental health month will essentially help with achieving that aim.
Such is the case with educational institutions, where systemic discrimination of women often comes in the shape of ridicule of them at the price of their mental states, ridiculing a girl for her ADHD and ignorance of their mental health deterioration, which often drives them to self-harm and suicide in school or worse mental issues such as PTSD. Having no psychoeducation or teachings from psychotherapy makes other women likely participants of the “bully” culture that targets women (or girls in this case) due to their mental illnesses. These mental illnesses are often misdiagnosed at the hands of men in the medical field which frequently gaslight women and young girls into believing that they have a problem that they actually do not have. Keeping this in mind, it makes a lot of sense to create a dedicated women’s mental health month and make its celebration a literal necessity.
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What Mental Health Disorders Do Women Face Most?
While there is no competition of who has the most mental disorder, as we have mentioned before women’s cases often go unreported due to the stigma. The most common women’s mental health disorders are depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Some of the sub-illnesses that come from these categories only happen to women, for example, prenatal depression, postpartum anxiety disorder, and symptoms of depression that often happen related to a woman’s menstrual cycle and menopause. These need attention and for that women’s Mental Health Month can really help.
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Conclusion
We have laid down all the reasons we need to dedicate Women’s Mental Health Month as a society. But mental illnesses in women such as psychosis should not be taken lightly. For that, treatment options like telepsychiatry and MAT are important, so you can refer to Solid Foundation Psychiatry. We are looking forward to meeting you!