What is Mental Health?
Mental health effects everything you do and the decisions you make.
Mental health is about being able to work and study to your full potential, cope with day-to-day life stresses, be involved in your community, and live your life in a free and satisfying way.
A person who has good mental health has good emotional and social wellbeing and the capacity to cope with change and challenges. Mental health problems can affect your feelings, thoughts and actions, and cause difficulties in your everyday activities, whether at school, at work, or in relationships.
Mental health problems
Feeling down, tense, angry or anxious are all normal emotions, but when these feelings persist for long periods of time, or if they begin to interfere with daily life, they may become mental health problems. Most mental health problems are not very severe or long-lasting. However, it is important to get support from your friends and family, and to ask for help early, for example by visiting your local doctor (general practitioner – GP) or your local headspace centre.
There are many signs that you might need to talk to someone about what’s going on in your life. They include:
- Not enjoying, or not wanting to be involved in, things that you would normally enjoy
- Not sleeping as well as usual, or sleeping more than usual
- Not eating as much as usual, or eating more than usual
- Being easily irritated, or being angry with friends and family for no reason
- Finding your grades at school, college or university are not as good as they should be
- Being involved in risky behaviour that you would usually avoid, like taking drugs or drinking too much alcohol
- Feeling tense or restless
- Crying for no apparent reason
- Feeling sad or ‘down’
- Having trouble concentrating or remembering things
- Having lots of negative thoughts
- Feeling unusually stressed or worried
Mental illness can occur at any age, but anxiety disorders and depression are quite common problems for young people. Mental illness can affect your thoughts, feelings, actions and memory. A mental illness is usually longer-lasting than mental health problems, and causes more distress and disruption to life. There are a number of mental illnesses, which include:
- Eating disorders
- Bipolar disorder
- Self harm
- Excessive alcohol and other drug use
Read on for:
Causes of Mental Health
Download the Headspace Mental Health PDF available here
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