Keeping our physical health strong and healthy is important just like it is important to take care of our mental health. Having a good mental health is when a person has a good sense of emotional well-being, connects with others, feels confident, safe, & is able to successfully manage stress. Mental Health includes our emotional, psychological, & social well-being. Our mental health effects on the way we feel, act, and think about everything happening in our lives (HHS, 2020). Our mental health also helps determine how we handle the stress in our lives, relate to others, & what choices we make.  When we experience good mental health, it does not mean we are always in a good mood, nor does it prevent the stresses of life from coming our way.  But, it does help us cope with them so we can continue to engage productively in our everyday lives.

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Mental wellness is not really openly discussed in our world today, a lot of people feel shame about struggling with their mental health and  due to this they often don’t get the treatment they need. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), approximately every 1 in 6 people aged 6-17 experience a mental illness each year and 50% of all mental illness begins by the age of 14, 75% by the age of 24 (n.d.). Mental health is not a thing that people should have to brush off or “deal with.” Mental health is just as, if not more, important as physical health. Our day-to-day mentality effects our actions throughout the day and throughout life.

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Everyone should be aware of several very important signs to look out for regarding their mental health as these signs indicate a need for immediate notification of a doctor: thoughts of harming yourself or others, suicidal thoughts or actions, self-harm or violence towards others, hearing voices or seeing things that aren’t there, feeling hopeless or helpless, severe mood swings that are causing problems in your relationship with family, inability to perform normal daily activities, or feeling like nothing matters.

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There are many different mental illnesses. Some of the most common types include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, dissociative identity disorder, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), & schizophrenia (NAMI, n.d.). Many of these mental health disorders are able to be affectively managed with a combination of therapy and medications. In addition, there are many ways people with these disorders can manage their symptoms outside of the hospital. Through maintaining a healthy diet, physical exercise, time management, healthy personal relationships, listening to music, and just doing things that you know will calm you during stressful times. See our other blog posts for more details on these effective methods for mental health maintenance & other resources available to you!