Acceptance Week
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Each year Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week gives us the opportunity to shine the light on children and youth – to focus on our young people who are impacted by mental health challenges. This Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week, May 5th - 11th 2024, we invite you to join us in lighting the path to social justice for children and youth. Look for new announcements here in the coming weeks!
In 2022, the National Federation of Families took an important step: launching the first national Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week, a departure from Awareness Week which began in 1992.
As an organization focused on families with children who experience mental health and/or substance use challenges across the lifespan, we believe Awareness isn’t enough – but Acceptance demands we advocate and act to change attitudes, behaviors, and systems.
One positive impact of a pandemic that has challenged everyone's mental health is that, now more than ever, people are talking about it and know it's important. So, it's time to move beyond the term awareness.
Mental health exists on a spectrum and almost everyone experiences challenges at some point in their life. Recognizing that our mental health is just as important as our physical health and accepting individuals who struggle for a period - or for a lifetime - is critical to reducing the fear, worry, blame, and shame that families and their loved ones experience - and increases the likelihood that those who are in need will seek the support and treatment they deserve.
In December of 2021, the Surgeon General issued an advisory highlighting the urgent need to address our nation's youth mental health crisis. In June of 2023, the surgeon general released another report highlighting risks to youth mental health as a result of social media use. These advisories underscore the importance of our acceptance campaign message - that it's time to move beyond awareness and to accept the challenges our children and youth face today.
Watch our latest video "The Power of Mental Health Acceptance", where young individuals and families voice the transformative impact mental health acceptance would have on their lives.
Moving the CMHAW campaign beyond Awareness. Why the "A" now stands for Acceptance.
Watch the recording of our CMHAW Event: "Accept. Advocate. Act. Parents Talk About Children's Mental Health" that took place in 2023 (below), check out our latest infographics to learn more, and explore our campaign resources below to find social media tools, educational materials for children and youth, activities for families, our advocacy calendar and much more!
Special thanks to our 2024 CMHAW campaign sponsor!
