Friday, June 13, 2025
Since 1949, May has been observed as Mental Health Awareness Month — a time to highlight the importance of prioritizing a core element of human wellness that is far too often overlooked in our society.
Time and again, experiences throughout my career as a social worker and service as a Freeport PTA leader, school board member and elected official have demonstrated the critical importance of delivering mental health care resources, recognizing the barriers that discourage people from seeking help, and the many ways that mental health challenges present themselves in our society.
Cognizant of the damage it causes at all stages of life, I have fought to combat bullying, whether it rears its ugly head in a school building or in the furthest reaches of the internet. In 2019, I proudly worked with Legislator Arnold Drucker to co-author and pass a law that makes the nonconsensual and malicious sharing of intimate images a criminal offense. Our legislation was parlayed into a statewide ban. Most recently, the bipartisan Take It Down Act tightened federal restrictions on this reprehensible act and took an important step toward addressing the growing scourge of AI deepfake incidents.
I am continuing to work alongside Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton and my Democratic minority colleagues to demand that the Blakeman administration accelerate the delivery of more than $100 million in funds accrued through lawsuits against the manufacturers, retailers and distributors of addictive opioid drugs. These funds have languished in county bank accounts for years and need to get into the hands of the agencies providing rehabilitation, treatment, prevention and recovery resources on the front lines of this battle — one that frequently leads to mental health as a root cause.
Moreover, I am supporting our partners in law enforcement, including Nassau Police Benevolent Association President Tommy Shevlin, in efforts to address the devastating officer suicide crisis. To date, seven officers in New York state have died by suicide — three of them from Nassau County. I join PBA President Shevlin in supporting the Joseph Banish Mental Health Act — named for a state trooper who died by suicide — and how it would establish a confidential network of trained officers to aid their peers in addressing mental health challenges that they may confront throughout their law enforcement careers.
All of this leads to an unavoidable truth: Many of our friends and neighbors are fighting battles that we may know nothing about. The age-old advice is to “walk a mile in somebody else’s shoes” before casting judgment upon a person or a situation. Within the context of mental health, it has tremendous value and wisdom, especially when you consider the following data.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 23.1 percent of America’s adult population — 59.3 million people — were living with a mental health condition in 2022. Young adults ages 18 to 25 reported the highest prevalence of mental health conditions, at a rate of 36.2 percent. Of the 59.3 million overall Americans impacted, about half — or around 30 million — received mental health treatment in the past year.
These statistics alone demonstrate the importance of doing our best to extend grace to our neighbors in all of our encounters, knowing that they may be enduring struggles that they are obscuring from the world’s view. Moreover, when there is an opportunity to reach out and provide somebody with help — whether by listening, offering direct assistance, or connecting a person with resources — we should do so to the best of our ability.
By normalizing conversations about mental health, each of us can do our part to chip away at the stigma associated with this issue. It is one of the biggest hurdles that prevents friends and loved ones from seeking care.
It is OK to not be OK — and when the time comes to seek help, it is imperative for all levels of government to combat the ongoing shortage of mental health care providers and take all necessary steps to ensure that resources are in place so we can start on the path to happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives.
Debra Mulé, of Freeport, who represents Nassau County’s 6th Legislative District, is the Legislature’s alternate deputy minority leader.
