Be Seen with Green 2023: For Mental Health Awareness in May
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Your Mental Health & Recovery Services Board is helping raise awareness by once again hosting Be Seen with Green! Participate any day in May by showing your green. Ways you can raise awareness:
Wear your green—Anything you own or a Be Seen with Green t-shirt!
Light the outside of your business or home in green, lightbulbs provided by MHRSB
Businesses and churches display Be Seen with Green window clings, provided by MHRSB
Have special green items for sale
Any other way to be seen with green
For light bulb and window cling pick up information, contact Trisha Smith at trisha@mhrsb.org or 419-222-5120 Ext.125.
Share your photos all month long in May! Use the hashtag #BeSeenWithGreen. Send us your photos with green to wecarepeople2012@gmail.com or through a Facebook message. We'll share them to our social!
Substance Use & Vaping Among Youth
1 in 5 young adults vape. While high school students' use of tobacco products dropped from 16.5% in 2022 to 12.6% in 2023 nationally, middle school students experienced an increase from 4.5% to 6.6% in that same time frame. Vapes continue to be the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students.
MHRSB has many local agencies and programs to help prevent substance use and vaping among youth.
CATCH My Breath is a youth e-cigarette prevention program that equips students with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about the use of e-cigarettes. It is for grades 6-12 and is run through PASS.
Class Action is an evidence-based alcohol-use prevention program. This program uses real-world social and legal consequences of underage alcohol use to educate teenagers. This program is also through PASS for grades 9-12.
I Mind is a newer, innovative local program funded by the MHRSB. It gives adolescents tools to avoid substance use through a voluntary one-day, four-hour class for grades 7-12. If parents suspect their child is using substances, they can refer their child to the program. Learn more at wecarepeople.org/imindprogram.
Parents play the most significant role in preventing their children from using substances. Talking to your child about substances is necessary, but it can be overwhelming to know where to start.
Listen like a friend but respond like a parent. Here are some tips:
Start conversations in low-pressure spaces where direct eye contact is not the priority. This can be in car rides, while doing chores, or when going for a walk together.
Keep your conversations in the present tense. For kids and teens, the future can feel a long way off.
Talk about how using drugs, alcohol, and vaping can spoil the fun of school, after-school activities, and friends.
Practice with them on what to say if someone offers them substances.
Show love and give praise. Your child needs to hear the good stuff, too.
Learn more at wecarepeople.org/letstalk.
If you are worried about your child, call the local 24/7 crisis line at 1-800-567-HOPE (4673) or call 988. If you are looking for other local resources, call 211.
2023 Annual Report
Our 2023 Annual Report is here! Discover how the MHRSB allocated federal, state, and local levy funds to benefit mental health and recovery services in Fiscal Year 2023.