May is Mental Health Awareness Month. During this time, you’ll hear a lot about ending stigma, increasing access to care, and being more open about your struggles. That’s fine, but awareness alone isn’t going to fix what’s broken.
We’re more aware of mental health than ever, and access to treatment is easier, yet somehow, we’re more anxious, more emotionally fragile, and less equipped to handle life’s challenges.
What we’ve created is a culture of emotional outsourcing. People expect therapists to validate them, diagnoses to explain them, and the world to adjust so they don’t have to. We’ve stopped talking about personal responsibility, mental strength, and the daily choices that actually lead to change.
That won’t change until we stop obsessing over how we feel, and start asking what we can do.
Here’s what that looks like:
1. Focus on Skills, Not Just Symptoms
People are taught to ask, “What’s wrong with me?” instead of, “What can I do differently?” But mental health isn’t just about insight, it’s about action. Are you sleeping? Moving your body? Managing your time? Setting limits? These aren’t minor details, they’re crucial to your psychological health.
2. Ditch the Diagnosis Trap
We’ve normalized the language of dysfunction to the point that it’s become identity. I’m anxious. I’m traumatized. I have ADHD. But you’re not your diagnosis. Labels can clarify, but they can also confine. Don’t let a clinical term limit your potential.
3. Get Uncomfortable
There’s no resilience without discomfort. Avoidance fuels anxiety. Every time you lean into a challenge—whether it’s a difficult conversation, public speaking, or setting a boundary—you’re teaching yourself that you can handle hard things. That’s how confidence is built.
4. Validation Isn’t the Same as Progress
It might feel good to have someone tell you your feelings are valid, but that’s not the same as getting better. I’ve seen too many people stuck in therapy that just echoes their pain back to them without any real forward movement. If your therapist never challenges you or makes you uncomfortable, you’re not in treatment, you’re in an expensive validation session. Growth requires more than being heard. It requires being pushed.
Mental Health Awareness Month is a good reminder to check in with ourselves, but we don’t need endless hashtags or platitudes. We need a reset. One that prioritizes strength over weakness, direction over diagnosis, and action over awareness.