What Is Mental Health?
Mental health is how we think, feel and act as we cope with life. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
Everyone feels worried, anxious, sad or stressed sometimes. But with a mental illness, these feelings do not go away and are severe enough to interfere with your daily life. It can make it hard to meet and keep friends, hold a job or enjoy your life.
Mental illnesses are common – they affect about one in five families in the U.S. It is not your fault if you have one. These disorders – depression, phobias, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and many others - are real diseases that you cannot will or wish away. Fortunately, they are often treatable. Medicines and therapy can improve the life of most people with mental illnesses.
What Causes Mental Health Problems?
It would be easy if there was just one root cause of mental health problems but life isn’t that simple. There seems to be a number of factors that can contribute in varying degrees.
You’ve probably heard people saying that it’s all about faulty brain chemicals. Psychiatric drugs, like antidepressants, tend to work by altering these chemicals. Undoubtedly many people benefit from psychiatric drugs, but to say mental health is only about chemistry would be too simplistic. Our past experiences, genetics, surroundings and the way we live our lives can also play a part. It’s hardly surprising that if, for example, you’re living on a low income, are in poor housing, have debts, or have experienced a devastating event, that you are more likely to experience problems. We also know that people can sometimes relate mental health problems to some form of trauma, often in childhood. Sometimes things that happen to us can have a lasting effect and continue to impact on our health and well-being for years to come. Too much stress can also leave us open to developing a problem.
When things get bad you should try and take a step back and think what you could change to reduce the amount of pressure, stress or strain you are under. The diagnosis of mental health problems isn’t an exact science. There is no test, for example, for depression or schizophrenia - doctors make a diagnosis based on the symptoms described. It isn’t always clear which diagnosis might be the most appropriate and it’s not unusual for people who experience difficulties over a long period to have several different diagnoses.
It’s important to remember that having a mental health problem needn’t be a long-term thing; with the right help and support, recovery rates are very encouraging – most people will get well again and it is important not to lose hope.