The Academy recognizes May as Mental Health Awareness Month. This annual observance aims to raise awareness and promote education about mental health and wellness.

Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and encourage people to seek help from their family physician. Family physicians play a critical role in addressing mental health, as they are often the first point of contact for patients seeking care and can provide screening, diagnosis, and treatment for mental health conditions.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has many resources to help you and your patients including clinical guidance, research, screening tools, and education to help you recognize and treat a wide variety of mental health needs; and resources to help you address adolescent and young adult health, depression, adult ADHD, and teen suicide prevention.

The Academy also reminds you to take care of yourself! The AAFP’s Physician Health First Initiative offers tools and resources to improve physician well-being and professional satisfaction by addressing the causes for burnout in medicine.