May is Mental Health Awareness month.

News 12 spoke with George Bates, a member of Rockland's Behavioral Health Response Team about mental health.

BHRT is available 24/7/365 for Rocklanders who need help by calling 845-517-0400.

"When you're depressed for a while, it feels like it's your whole life but it's not your whole life," said Bates. "If what's going on in your life has a name, somebody else has gotten through it. So you're not alone and it is survivable."

He has a decades-long career as a psychiatric nurse and explains that a warning sign family and friends should be aware of are any changes in someone's behavior like withdrawal and sleeping more.

The National Institute of Mental Health said in 2022 that more than one in five U.S. adults live with mental illness.

A 2018 CDC study finds that nearly half of all people who die by suicide have known mental health conditions.

On Wednesday afternoon, a 32-year-old man from Congers was killed by a train in Nanuet.

The MTA police said no criminality is suspected based on video evidence.

There is a suicide prevention sign, with numbers to call at the train station, and the MTA says its front-line workers are trained to recognize warning signs of a mental health crisis and then get the person help, too.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.