Mental health is a fundamental part of our daily lives, all throughout the year. Each May, as part of Mental Health Awareness Month, we acknowledge the role mental health plays in the way we exist as individuals, and as a society.

This year, for Mental Health Awareness Month, we are putting a spotlight on the topic of resilience through our new campaign: In This Together: Building Emotional Resilience in Ourselves and Our Communities. Throughout the month, we will be sharing tips, videos and guidance on how we can enhance our capacity to adapt and cope with trauma and the stress that life brings. We will also be encouraging people to foster connection and contribute to the resilience of their communities by joining an Out of the Darkness Walk, bringing education and loss support programs to your area, becoming an AFSP Volunteer Advocate, and enhancing your own and others’ understanding of what research tells us about mental health and suicide prevention.

As a special sneak peek, we’d also like to let you know about just a few of the events taking place in May, including:

May 6 — The latest episode of the Strong Talk podcast, which features AFSP Vice President for Health Equity and Engagement Victor (Vic) Armstrong, MSW, talking with AFSP Minnesota Chapter volunteer Ray Stenglein about mental health and suicide prevention in the construction industry, as part of Construction Safety Week.

May 8 @ 2 p.m. ET — Learn about interventions that can reduce suicide risk and health care costs by registering for the webinar: Reducing Suicide Risk Through Primary Care: How the Collaborative Care Model can Help Save Lives

May 15 @ 4 p.m. ET — Join us for a #RealConvo Concert combining performance and interview featuring Jonah Marais, formerly of the band Why Don’t We and now a featured artist of Amazon's 2025 Artist to Watch campaign, whose debut solo EP premieres May 16. Jonah has been open about his own mental health journey and is increasingly highlighting the topic in his music.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more email updates and social posts across our AFSP channels about our In This Together: Building Emotional Resilience in Ourselves and Our Communities campaign. We’re excited to have you be part of the conversation.