Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.
Childhood and teenage years pose all sorts of challenges and pressures that can be difficult to cope with. These can include; Anxiety about exams, body image, confidence issues, self-esteem, worrying about money and family. Young people can experience a range of issue sometimes even before starting school. This is why it is important that we do things to help ourselves and to support each other so that problems do not appear later in life.
Mental Health vs Mental Illness
In the course of a lifetime, not all people will experience a mental illness, but everyone will struggle or have a challenge with their mental well-being (i.e., their mental health) just like we all have challenges with our physical well-being from time to time.
When we talk about mental health, we’re talking about our mental well-being: our emotions, our thoughts and feelings, our ability to solve problems and overcome difficulties, our social connections, and our understanding of the world around us.
A mental illness is an illness the affects that way people think, feel, behave, or interact with others. There are many different mental illnesses, and they have different symptoms that impact peoples’ lives in different ways.
Tips to improve your wellbeing
- Set yourself a challenge, find something you like doing and do more of it
- Take time for yourself, learn to do something new or do something you enjoy
- Talk to a friend, open up to someone you trust, it can be helpful to acknowledge your feelings by saying them out loud
- Join a new group, meeting others with shared interest may increase your confidence
- Keep a mood diary, tracking your moods can help you understand what positively and negatively affects your moods
- Look after your physical health, make small gradual changes to your sleep and exercising can benefit your mental wellbeing
How can I be more resilient?
Taking steps to look after your wellbeing can help you deal with pressure, and reduce the impact that stress has on your life. This is sometimes called developing emotional resilience – the ability to adapt and bounce back when something difficult happens in your life.