DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF)– With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s important to understand the signs of when someone needs help.
Dayton 24/7 Now’s, Kysha Hancock caught up with the ADAMHS Board about resources available in our community, the impact of 988 and some mental health trends they’ve seen.
Nationwide the entire month of May is dedicated to spreading awareness for mental health and encouraging those going through these crises to get help. Right here in Montgomery County, the ADAMHS Board launched its own campaign, ’Stigma is Out of Style.’
“Mental Health Awareness Month gives us the chanceto share some of the vital resources we have in our community and then just to get people talking about mental health. The more we can talk about it the more comfortable people feel about getting treatment,” said Colleen Oakes, director of communications and strategic initiatives at ADAMHS.
However, for some, getting that help can be hard, which is why it’s important to understand when your loved ones really need the help.
“When you’re starting to see somebody stray from that baseline, so maybe they’re participating in activities that they used to enjoy, or they’re withdrawing from family members or friends that they typically spend time with,” said Oakes.
Oakes told Hancock there is a correlation to mental health disorders and suicide. Between 2024 and 2025, there has been a 19% decrease in suicide deaths with 93 deaths in 2024 and 75 deaths in 2025.
Resources like 988 have helped to contribute to this drop.
“About 80 to 90 percent of those calls are resolved over the phone, but we do have a mobile unit here locally that if the call is not able to get resolved over the phone, they can dispatch our mobile unit to you for support,” said Oakes.
Making sure people have access to these resources at any time is key, which is why the Montgomery County Prevention Coalition has worked hard to put up five murals in the community that have QR codes attached to them with resources for help.
You can get to those resources by visiting the Montgomery County Prevention Coalition’s website.