Mental health is concerned with the way individuals think, feel, and act. Mental health care workers can assist individuals to deal with issues like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, addiction, and other disorders that influence their thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Mental health may impact an individual’s daily life, relationships, and physical health. Things happening in individuals’ lives and relationships outside themselves may also affect their mental well-being.
Taking care of one’s mental health will ensure that an individual remains able to live life. This entails balancing their activities, tasks, and effort towards becoming psychologically resilient.
Stress, depression, and anxiety have an impact on mental health and might interfere with an individual’s schedule.
Even though medical professionals normally say “mental health,” physicians identify that most conditions of the mind have bodily origins.
How the WHO Defines Mental Health
The WHO says that mental health is “more than the absence of mental disorders.” Optimal mental health is about coping with active problems and staying well and content.
The organization further asserts that restoring and maintaining mental health is essential on individual, community, and societal levels.
In the U.S., the National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that nearly 1 in 5 adults have mental health issues every year.
In 2021, an estimated 14.1 million adultsTrusted Source in the US, approximately 5.5% of the adult population, had a serious psychological condition, as estimated by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
Risk factors for mental health disorders
All individuals are at some risk of developing a mental health disorder, no matter what their age, sex, income, or ethnicity. In the United States and most of the developed world, depression is among the top causesTrusted Source of disability.
Social and economic conditions, childhood trauma, biological predispositions, and underlying medical conditions can allTrusted Source influence an individual’s mental health.
Most individuals with a mental illness have more than oneTrusted Source condition simultaneously.
Note that mental well-being is determined by a combination of factors, and a few factors can come together to produce a mental illness.
Types of mental health disorders
Medical professionals classify mental illness disorders based on the characteristics that they share. They are:
anxiety disorders
mood disorders
schizophrenia disorders
Anxiety disorders
Based on the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental illness disorders.
Individuals suffering from these conditions experience extreme fear or anxiety toward specific objects or situations. Most individuals suffering from an anxiety disorder attempt to stay away from whatever causes their anxiety.
Mood disorders
A mood disorder is a psychiatric disorder that is mostly related to your emotional condition. It’s a disorder in which you’re under long-lasting conditions of great happiness, or great sadness, or both. Some mood disorders include other recurring emotions like anger and irritability.
It is to be expected that your mood will shift, depending on circumstances. Yet, for a diagnosis of a mood disorder, symptoms must endure for weeks or more. Mood disorders can alter your behavior and interfere with your capacity to carry out daily activities, like work or school.
Schizophrenia disorders
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that influences the way individuals think, feel, and act. It can lead to a combination of hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized behavior and thinking. Hallucinations include perceiving things or hearing voices that others cannot see or hear. Delusions include strong convictions regarding things that do not exist. Individuals with schizophrenia can appear to lose contact with reality, making everyday life extremely difficult.
Individuals suffering from schizophrenia require lifelong treatment. This involves medication, counseling and assistance in coping with daily living activities.
How to keep your mental health in check
Regular exercise: Doing 45 minutes of exercise three to five times per week can help enhanceTrusted Source a person’s mental health.
Do relaxing activities: Deep breathing exercises, meditation, health apps, and journaling can reduce stress and enhance general health and wellbeing.
Seek positive social interactions: Getting to know others and having close relationships can decrease stress and provide support and instrumental assistance during times of need.
In brief
The cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being of an individual is referred to as their “mental health.” It influences how people interact with others, respond to stressors, and make decisions.
Peak mental health is more than just the absence of mental health issues, according to the WHO. It is the capacity to continue being happy and healthy while managing current circumstances and challenges.