Melanie Dallas: A New Year’s resolution for everyone

Published 8:00 am Thursday, January 9, 2025

There is something about the new year that makes me hopeful, and I think a lot of people feel the same. Maybe it’s flipping the calendar — from the last year to the next — that seems to inspire us. “Yes, this will be the year that I finally … ”

Hope is always good, of course, but might be even more important in a year that seems to have gotten off to a less-than-ideal start. A couple of events early in the New Year, in particular the deadly truck attack in New Orleans and the truck explosion suicide in Las Vegas of a man who seemed to be struggling with mental health, may have given many of us pause.

I also know many Georgians have been deeply affected by the passing of Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29, especially those who had met the former president personally over the years, and whose humanity and service to others might also spark some self-reflection in this new year.

All that said, I believe hope, pause and self-reflection can be ingredients for building a positive personal perspective, one that can certainly last through the year ahead and inspire beneficial changes along the way. And really, isn’t that the purpose of the resolutions we make each New Year’s?

Still, sometimes hope can be elusive — certainly events like I described above can have an impact — and self-reflection, while always a good practice, can sometimes bring into focus things about ourselves we would rather avoid (and that’s completely normal). We may all have an ideal version of ourselves in mind, but the fact is sometimes we need a little help to get there, and that’s normal, too.

So I want to propose a New Year’s resolution anyone can make, and keep, one that many people will find challenging but which has the potential to benefit us more than we know. One that, like most resolutions, becomes easier the more we do it. And it is this, “This year, I resolve to ask for help when I need it.”

If you think about it, asking for help is something you probably already do, help from a spouse, co-worker or friend, often for some routine task we all have to do. But asking for help can be more difficult when your circumstances are more difficult, especially if that includes struggling with mental health or substance use.

Having worked in mental health for more than 35 years, I know picking up the phone and calling a mental health or substance use clinic is often the most difficult call people ever make, so difficult, in fact, that many people never do it. And that’s a shame, because one thing that almost always comes with asking for help is a sense of hope.

Think about it. You’re at work stressed out with what seems an unsolvable problem on an impossible deadline and you ask a co-worker, “Hey, could you give me a hand real quick?” And when your colleague jumps right in (because you’ve jumped in and helped when they’ve asked you in the past) you start feeling hopeful that you can solve the problem and meet your deadline. And you do.

While there might always be things we would rather not have happened, nationally or personally, each of us has the power to make positive changes, especially if we remember everyone needs help from time to time. And if sometimes we need help with some serious challenges, it’s even more important to ask.

So make 2025 the year you finally ask for help, especially if you are struggling with mental health or substance use. Help can give you hope to realize the changes you want to see this year, and for the years to come.

Melanie Dallas is a licensed professional counselor and the CEO of Highland Rivers Behavioral Health, which provides treatment and recovery services for people with mental illness, substance use disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities in a 13-county region of Northwest Georgia that includes Murray and Whitfield counties.