Gizmo's Pawesome Campaign for Mental Health Expands to Reach Adults

The CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and United Way of Connecticut today announced the expansion of the highly successful Gizmo’s Pawesome Campaign for Mental Health for youth and their trusted adults to include new resources dedicated to adult mental health. The adult campaign promotes the message that “Self-care Isn't Selfish,” and encourages adults to prioritize their mental health, and to reach out early and as often as needed for support from family, friends, peers, counselors, and, if necessary, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

“It is important that we continue educating individuals and communities about mental health and eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness,” said Commissioner Nancy Navarretta of DMHAS. “We are hopeful that the adult expansion of Gizmo’s Pawesome Campaign for Mental Health will engage adults, and encourage them to create plans to help support their mental health.”

The original youth-focused Gizmo’s Pawesome Campaign for Mental Health is based on, Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health©, which uses an upstream approach to support the mental health and wellness of youth. The youth campaign seeks to introduce mental health and wellness in a gentle way using therapy dogs, encourages self-identification of warning signs and promotes the use of self-selected coping skills to help support mental health self-care daily among youth. It also promotes proactive communication between youth and their identified trusted adults. Lastly, it encourages youth and their identified trusted adults to take Gizmo’s Pawesome Pledge for Mental Health, and develop personalized Youth and Trusted Adult Mental Health Plans that may be used daily to maintain their mental health, or when they feel sad, mad or worried, and help trusted adults model positive mental health self-care for the youth in their lives.

The adult-focused campaign specifically promotes new resources that guide adults to develop their own Adult Mental Health Plan, which is an effective way to take care of personal mental well-being and when under distress. By prioritizing their mental health, adults can build healthy self-care habits, communicate to their peers that it is okay to take care of ourselves, it’s not selfish, reduce their risk of a mental health crisis, and convey that connecting to care when we need it is a sign of strength and resilience.

Lisa Tepper Bates, President & CEO of United Way of Connecticut shared, “In 2022, the United Way of Connecticut’s crisis contact center specialists handled nearly 150,000 adult mental health crisis calls, representing 42% of all 211 Infoline calls. We know there is a need for additional mental health supports for adults, and we are thrilled to partner with DMHAS to expand Gizmo’s Pawesome Campaign for Mental Health and related resources available to proactively help adults take care of their mental health.”

To create a personalized mental health plan, visit Gizmo4MentalHealth.org/adults. Additional mental health resources for adults and children are also available by visiting Gizmo4MentalHealth.org.