"It's mind-boggling just how far behind the African-American culture is when it comes to mental health and suicide. But African-Americans need to know: A mental health condition is no different than a physical one."

On the first Saturday of every month, the basement at Providence United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina transforms into a drop-in center called Providence Place. Every single person in this room has been affected by mental illness in some way or another.

"The stigma felt especially daunting in the context of my profession: Pastors are supposed to be paradigms of perfection, to be endowed with the sort of faith that keeps them immune from something like mental illness."

"So often, our culture concludes that suicide is a rejection of life, a willful refusal to live any longer, but I believe suicide is a statement that life can and should be so much more than pain or despair. If a suicidal person only sees a future with days on end of pain, then that vision looks nothing like the sort of life we all long to enjoy."

Mental Health Month is just around the corner. If your congregation, school, office, town, campus, book club, family, sports team—whatever!—is looking to get involved and raise awareness and funds for NAMI, consider a bake sale.

Religion and spirituality are both rooted in trying to understand the meaning of life and, in some cases, how a relationship with a higher power may influence that meaning. Both practices can have an incredible impact on mental health. 

NAMI's fact sheets offer clear, concise information on mental health topics. Share them with a loved one, bring to a doctor or hand them out at health fairs.

Learn how NAMI Sharing Hope can help increase mental health awareness in African American communities.

Learn how Sharing Hope can help increase mental health awareness in African American communities.

Stigma about mental health prevents teens from seeking help. Learn how NAMI's Say it Out Loud can get teens talking and asking for help when they need it.

Rabbi Dov Gartenburg shares his story of helping his son who lives with mental illness while trying to lead a congregation.

Learn how Opening Doors to Recovery (ODR) is changing the way mental health is treated in the criminal justice system in Georgia.

Many NAMI Affiliates offer an array of outstanding peer-led programs that provide free education, skills training and support. Discover which education program is right for you.