Mental Health Awareness Month: rise in 'collective stress'

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, there is a crisis of anxiety and burnout, with reports of depression and anxiety rising over 10 percent since last year.

Health experts say it's all adding up to the rise of "collective stress."

"Collective stress is when the weight of the world becomes personal, even if it's not happening directly to us, our nervous system is still responding to it. Our brains, they don't understand that it's my stress, or if it's the world's stress. It just registers threat," said licensed therapist Cherlette McCullough.

McCullough says that everything going on in the world is directly and indirectly impacting our mental health.

Experts say the old belief of just turning off the news isn't enough since information comes to us from other outlets, including social media and word of mouth.

McCullough suggests setting boundaries with information as well as people.

"Another one is doing your day check-ins. What am I feeling? What am I carrying today that's not mine? What is it that I need to give up today that I have no control over doing?" advised McCullough.

One way to shake off the stress and anxiety is to connect with your loved ones.

One phone call can make a huge difference.