Mental Health Awareness Month started on Friday, which means local officials are gearing up to spread the word about services and programs designed to help those in need.
For Wasatch County Councilor Kendall Crittenden, Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity for the county to implement new ordinances and opportunities that bolster mental health services.
“For the whole month, we’ve had different programs,” Crittenden said, adding that it’s different each year. “Recent statistics show that one in six adults experience mental health conditions in a given year, so it’s a critical thing.”
This year’s County Council resolution encourages citizens to learn and practice mental health wellness daily, and it emphasizes the importance of emotional health and its impact on daily life.
“(It) recognizes the significance of mental health, to continue to work together, reduce stigma, raise awareness and build a supportive community that promotes mental wellness for all,” Crittenden said.
The resolution is on the May 6 agenda.
“(Mental health) is a challenge for a lot of people, for a lot of different reasons,” Crittenden said.
The council will partner with the Wasatch County Health Department and Wasatch Behavioral Health to highlight services this month — and beyond. Wasatch Behavioral Health Prevention Coordinator Trudy Brereton said working with leaders in the community is a great way to share resources and look at issues in the county through data.
Brereton said about 25% of people in Wasatch County report having poor mental health. About 18% of those reported being diagnosed with depression.
“That’s a quarter of our residents that deal with that, and we find very close to that same thing in youth,” Brereton said.
She added that the 2025 Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey report shows that about 50% of Wasatch County students are feeling moderate depression. However, that statistic is on a downward trend.
“It’s trending down about 7% or 8% from previous years. We’ll take any downward trend we can get,” Brereton said, adding that students have reported feeling sad or hopeless. “Those types of things lead to depression, to mental health problems, anxiety and can lead to suicide as well.”
But there are programs and services to help.
“It’s not just a push just in May, but May is a great opportunity to bring about awareness,” Brereton said. “It gives us a great platform to reach out to community leaders and be able to keep in mind that it’s important to focus on mental health.”
Throughout the year, Brereton said Wasatch Behavioral Health has different programs focusing on connection, which is important for people of all ages to “feel better” and improve their mental health. Connection is a key strategy for managing sadness, depression and loneliness.
Family bonding events can go a long way, too. A dinner is held in the park every September, with up to 700 individuals attending, for example.
“It’s an opportunity to educate them about the importance of family bonding, but also for the community to connect as well,” Brereton said.
She added that mental health is just as important as physical health; it needs to be cared for and exercised. Healthy coping skills can prevent long-term diseases and mental illness, and help prevent crises from occurring.
“Just like you take care of your physical health, you need to do the same thing for your mental health,” Brereton said.
Wasatch Behavioral Health also looks at data for targeted populations who are struggling. That data comes from the state medical examiner’s office.
“For quite a few years, our population that’s most at risk is males ages 18 to 54,” Brereton said. “Then, our veteran population as well.”
Brereton said her office is always thinking about prevention and taking steps to keep mental health “healthy” before it becomes a point where it’s “very concerning or at a crisis level.” That’s why mental health awareness month is so important to her — because it brings mental health to the forefront of the minds of community members.
“On my personal level, it’s so important to make connections with people and help be a resource or just a listening ear,” Brereton said.
Since about 2012, Brereton has worked with students in Wasatch County. Making a connection with them has helped bring about awareness, even for those who don’t need services right away but might turn to help in the future.
“I’ve had several students throughout the year, some of them, I’m so thankful, have actually gone into the mental health field and become licensed clinicians. And, some of them do prevention work like the work I do, and it’s good to see that being passed on,” Brereton said. “I think we can all help each other by nurturing each other and being kind and supportive, to always have that door open for people to get help.”
Wasatch Behavioral Health and Wasatch County will be hosting several mental health opportunities throughout the month, to be highlighted at the May 6 County Council meeting.
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