As Mental Illness Awareness Week gets underway, health experts are encouraging people who may be struggling with issues to seek professional help.

The subject of mental illness makes a lot of people uncomfortable when the topic comes up, but it's something that affects a great deal of people.

An estimated 1 in 5 Americans experience mental illness every year. One in 20 experience what's considered serious mental illness, but of those, only a little more than half seek treatment.

"I was mandated to treatment, which was pretty much the best thing that ever happened to me," says Farah Lamarre, of Rockville Centre.

She says that she has dealt with both mental health and substance abuse issues in her life, but that it turned around after receiving counseling and treatment.

"My brother actually told me it's like he has his sister back," Lamarre adds.

Now sober for eight years, Lamarre is a now a certified peer specialist who counsels people who had similar issues she did.

"A lot of people, I feel like, specifically with the medications, there’s a lot of resistance that I see. But the medications are really an important part of treatment," she says.

"A lot of people who've never had a mental health issue before are all of a sudden experiencing extreme mental health issues," says Jeff Friedman, CEO of Central Nassau Guidance and Counseling Services.

He says the pandemic has caused more cases of anxiety, isolation, depression, and suicide.

The good news, he says, is that there are many treatment options available. However, he adds that mental health still carries a stigma.

"I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who haven't picked up the phone or gone on the internet for help because they're afraid of what other people will think of them. What we're trying to do is normalize that. All these things that people are feeling are normal," Friedman says.

Those who have gone through treatment hope that the idea that seeking help for mental health is normal resonates with those who are struggling.

"It'll open up so many pathways for these people if they just get their mental health under control because without a healthy mind, you really don't have much," Lamarre says.