Hey, how are things going? Are you doing OK?

These are questions we should ask the people in our lives regularly but are perhaps especially important this month as May is Mental Health Awareness Month. To recognize this month, let’s all take a minute to check in with the people in our lives who may be struggling with mental illness and look for ways to support them.

Despite the stigma that surrounds it, mental illness is common. You probably know at least a few people who have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness.

In America alone, 43.8 million people deal with mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. One in five adults experience some form of mental illness, and nearly one in 25 adults deal with a serious mental illness. By the numbers, 2.4 million Americans live with schizophrenia, 6.1 million live with bipolar disorder, 16 million live with major depression and 42 million have an anxiety disorder. Additionally, 10.2 million American adults live with co-occurring mental health and addiction disorders.

Despite such high numbers of mental illness in our country, mental illness is still often stigmatized. Mental illness is often thought not to be as severe as physical illness or injury. Because their handicaps are unseen, people who deal with mental illness are often told to pull themselves together and keep going. However, just because mental illness is invisible to most, it does not mean that mental illness is not very real and can be as debilitating as any physical illness.

We need to realize mental illness is commonplace in our country and be doing everything in our power to support those dealing with it.

As someone who has people very close to her living with mental illnesses, I understand it can be difficult. There are times that I just don’t understand what they are going through or why they are acting in a certain way. Because I don’t struggle with mental illness and wouldn’t act that way, it can be hard for me to understand where they are coming from. When that happens, I know that I need to take a moment to educate myself on mental illness and let my loved ones know that I am here for them.

Sometimes, the most helpful thing we can do is to check in our loved ones, ask them how they are doing and offer our support in any way they need it. We need to let them know that they are not alone.

For Mental Health Awareness Month, if you are looking to support those living with mental illness with your dollars, there are several great national charities to choose from including The National Alliance on Mental Illness, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, The Trevor Project and many others.

SARAH CULTON, is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7712 or by email at sarah.culton@leaderpub.com