19 months later, things still don’t feel back to “normal,” and we’ve suffered a tremendous amount of loss. But a handful of positive changes have come out of this time, too, especially in regards to our mental health. Ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10, Parade.com worked with the Cleveland Clinic and polled over 2,000 Americans and found that many of us have come out of this difficult time stronger. More Americans than ever now understand that mental health is health, and they’re finally working hard to prioritize it if they weren’t before. Additionally, findings revealed that celebrities opening up about their mental health struggles helped to reduce the stigma around mental health. That’s why Parade launched Take a Mental Health Day in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic, where we highlight important facts about mental health and wellness, reveal how and why you should prioritize mental health, and talk with celebrities about what they do to take the best possible care of their mental health. “What I noticed about my mental health during the pandemic is that anything about me that was already struggling started struggling more,” actress Mayim Bialik told Parade. “So, I’ve always had anxiety, my anxiety got worse. My sleep got disrupted. My stomach was getting upset. I was having trouble concentrating. I was bumping into things all the time. All those little tendencies I had to lean towards anxiety just got stronger.” Actress Rosario Dawson told Parade that taking time to breathe is crucial for her mental health. “I love things like just taking a deep breath, holding it in for four seconds, and then pushing it out, holding that for four seconds—it just does things to the actual systems in your body. But it just brings you present. Just being alive in the present I think is just so critical for our mental and emotional health. We can’t solve all the problems, we can’t change things in the past, but right here, right now I’m alive and I’m ok. That’s so important to remind ourselves. We got this.” Next up: Best Mental Health Podcasts of 2021
