An Emerald City: The Empire State Building lit up in Green for Mental Health Awareness Month.
On Monday night, the Empire State building glowed green, but definitely not with envy. The emerald light glistening a top the tower represented the celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month.
The lighting began with a ceremony in which Philosophy’s Hope and Grace Fund teamed up with NBC’s Chicago Med actress, Torrey Devitto, in the presentation of a $75,000 check to help fund the National Alliance on Mental Illness and their #StigmaFree initiative.
This movement hopes to provide resources and tools to offer assistance with mental health problems in the workplace and communities and start a conversation to remove the unnecessary stigmas they come with.
While most health issues tend to have physical manifestations, during the lighting ceremony, the stunning Pretty Little Liars star, bravely opened up about her own battle with anxiety disorder exemplifying the fact that not all health problems have physical signs.
Devitto told The Knockturnal that she hopes her status and career will allow her to “give a voice” to those with mental health issues and “inspire people to be stigma free.” Devitto also believes that it’s important to always be working on bettering your mental health.
When asked more specifically about her feelings surrounding depression, a topic she wrote about for the online crisis-prevention networkI Am Alive , Devitto said that “depression is like a jealous friend that doesn’t want you to talk to anyone else”. She added that depression accomplishes this by making a depressed person feel as though talking to someone will only make them “a burden” on the listener.
Every year the Hope and Grace Fund will allot grant money to a foundation dedicated to supporting those with mental health disorders. Among such disorders, ” depression, anxiety, psychological distress, sexual violence, domestic violence and escalating rates of substance use affect women to a greater extent than men across different countries and different settings” according to the World Health Organization.
–Nicole Phillip
