Written By: Sophia Lee
As May rolls around we see on social media and around posters saying it is “Mental Awareness Month”. Although mental awareness has risen over the past few years, especially with social media platforms and video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, the stigma surrounding it is still prevalent. Mental Health awareness month strives to promote psychological disorders and tolls on mental health as a social norm while allowing more people to speak up about their struggles and promoting treatment of it.
Erika’s Lighthouse was founded by parents who had lost their daughter, Erika, to teen depression. They strive to “Get Depression Out of the Dark” and promote teen depression so that teenagers suffering can speak up and reach out for help. It is a Key Club partner charity focusing on teen depression awareness. The four pillars are classroom education on teen depression, teen empowerment, family engagements, and school policy and staff. They provide resources for teen depression awareness and also provide opportunities to volunteer, tips for family engagement, and have programs in 1200 different schools across the nation making an impact on the social standing of teen depression.
Find out more about Erika’s Lighthouse here: https://www.erikaslighthouse.org/portal/.
Chicago North Shore Moms
