First of all, what do we mean by mental health? It’s a term that’s used a lot, but what actually is it?
What is mental health?
Mental health is not just about mental illness. Everyone has mental health – it’s a spectrum. It’s about how we are within ourselves and how well we’re able to cope with everyday life.
Poorer mental health includes both short-term periods of struggling to cope as well as longer-term psychological conditions. If you have poorer mental health, you might feel sad or hopeless a lot of the time. You may struggle to get out of bed and wonder, “What’s the point?” You might get behind on housework, not eat proper meals, or sleep too much or too little. You may feel physically unwell or exhausted for no particular reason. You might worry excessively or struggle to leave the house. You may even feel like you’re “losing it”.
So then, is good mental health about feeling happy all the time, never worrying, and not having any stress?
We might like to think so! But no, that’s not how it works.
Life is full of ups and downs, and it’s unrealistic to think you can be happy all the time.
It’s about being able to cope with these ups and downs and the stresses life throws at us. Of course sometimes we’re going to feel sad, angry or scared; these are normal human emotions. Good mental health doesn’t mean we don’t react accordingly to difficult situations. What it means is we are able to cope with everyday life, accepting that things will sometimes be difficult, but that we have the skills and the resilience to get through this.
That doesn’t necessarily mean getting through things alone, we all need to lean on others sometimes. But for the most part we know we have the tools to manage.
Does good mental health look the same for everyone?
Nope. We are all different and again, mental health is a spectrum.
Good mental health might look like:
· Feeling on top of things
· Being an active part of your community
· Feeling generally positive about life and hopeful about the future
· Having healthy social relationships
· Feeling fulfilled in your romantic relationship(s)
· Doing activities you enjoy
· Feeling content at work
· Having enough energy
· Setting and working towards goals
· Feeling confident in yourself and your decisions
Just because all of these things might not apply to you, that doesn’t instantly mean you have poor mental health; there might be physical health or social factors at play as well. You come to know what’s “good” for you, and equally when you aren’t feeling yourself and you might benefit from some support.
When the bad days outweigh the good or neutral days, or when you’re not able to function as you normally would, that’s when you may be experiencing poor mental health. This is why it’s so important to get to know yourself and what’s normal for you. Whether that’s through journalling, mood trackers, or something else, keeping an eye on how you are helps you recognise when you might be starting to struggle, before you get to a crisis point.
For the month of October, I’ve been offering new clients one of two discounts to try and encourage more people to seek support for their mental health. You can either have 6 sessions for the price of 5 OR if you’re not sure about committing to that many sessions, £10 off your first session, with no obligation to continue. These offers will be available for anyone who contacts me by 31st October 2023, so please share this with anyone you think may benefit.
I hope you found this blog helpful. Let me know in the comments what good mental health means to you.
Until next time, take care.
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