Breaking the Stigma: Mental Health America of Arizona

Mental Health America of Arizona (MHA AZ) is Arizona’s oldest organization dedicated to all aspects of mental health.

MHA AZ Executive Director Ericka Irvin said she’s seen a positive shift in the mental health space in recent years, particularly when it comes to reducing stigma.

“Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re talking about mental health more,” Irvin said. “It really made a difference.” The more we talk about mental health, the less stigma there is attached to it. But even though we’ve made some strides in our state, she said there are still barriers to care.

“Things are still not where we need them to be,” Irvin continued. “Here in Arizona, it’s tough to access care, and it’s tough to navigate the system. Often people don’t know how to get help.”

MHA AZ is a great place to start if you don’t know who to reach out to or where to turn.

“As an organization, we do not provide direct clinical services, but we do have free online mental health screenings, we work on public policy, and we are a resource for the community.”

The free online mental health screenings include a youth mental health test, a depression test, an anxiety test, and more.

“The online screenings are completely anonymous,” she explained. “You will be asked a series of questions about how you've been feeling and how long you've been feeling this way. You’ll get a synopsis based on how questions were answered, and we provide resources. But even if you don’t take the screening, we have resources listed on our website.”

The organization also does workplace training on mental health and stigma reduction.

“We go into the workplace and talk about the different types of mental health conditions and destigmatizing mental health. It starts with a simple statement that mental health conditions are nothing to be ashamed of. Inevitably, in every single training I’ve done, at least one person thanked me because they were silently suffering.”

She asks participants what kind of stigmatizing misconceptions they have heard or experienced. She often receives responses like ‘men don’t get depressed’ and 'women shouldn’t be depressed if they just had a beautiful baby.’

“These are untrue statements, and invalidating. Depression, postpartum depression, and any kind of mental health condition are medical conditions just like heart disease or diabetes that can happen to anyone, and should be addressed early,” Irvin continued. “‘Before stage 4,’ is a saying at MHA AZ. If you or a loved one were diagnosed with cancer, you wouldn’t wait until stage 4 when it’s life-threatening to take care of it. You’re going to tackle it head-on as early as possible, and Arizonans should treat their mental health the same way.”

MHA AZ’s mission to break the stigma aligns with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona’s Stigma-Free AZ campaign to help end the stigma in our state surrounding behavioral health (including both mental health conditions and substance use disorders).

Pledge to support a Stigma-Free AZ today so those who need help feel empowered to get help! All you have to do is fill out a brief form: azblue.com/stigmafreeaz.

For more information on Mental Health America of Arizona, visit: Home | mysite (mhaarizona.org)