What You Need to Know About Mental Health
3 min readYour mental health affects how you think, feel and act; it impacts how effectively you can manage stress, build relationships and rebound from life’s challenges.
Recognizing when emotions are out of whack is key. Seeking help does not indicate any weakness; treatment is highly effective.
Definition
Mental wellbeing encompasses emotions, thinking, relationships and stress management capabilities; it’s also linked to physical well-being.
Mental health conditions may fluctuate over time depending on a variety of circumstances or illnesses, causing significant distress and hindering daily functions.
This paper presents a definition that seeks to move away from ideal norms and theoretical traditions based on pleasure-seeking behavior and avoid stigmatization and exclusion. This takes into account that mental health may not always be enjoyable but instead should include living according to universal values while creating meaningful lives despite illnesses or impairments.
Mentally healthy people can better navigate life’s peaks and valleys. Furthermore, they can feel satisfied with their lives while contributing to their communities in meaningful ways that build hope and self-worth.
Symptoms
Mental illness is a widespread affliction and should never be taken lightly. Seeking help, whether for yourself or family, if concerned is essential if symptoms of mental illness surface; psychotherapeutic approaches and medication often offer effective relief for most conditions.
Mental illnesses may present with dramatic shifts in mood, feelings of sadness or hopelessness, feeling irritable all the time and difficulty concentrating or thinking and remembering properly. Physical symptoms may also arise such as headaches and stomachaches and these will depend on both individual circumstances as well as condition type.
Some mental disorders are inherited while others can be brought on by events or chemical changes in the brain, yet many individuals with mental illnesses do not seek treatment, leading to serious complications like suicide. Mental illnesses do not reflect poor character but they should be addressed appropriately through medication and talk therapy (psychotherapy), in addition to being co-occurring with other medical illnesses like diabetes, heart disease or cancer.
Treatment
Treatment for mental health conditions varies greatly between individuals, even those who share similar diagnoses. There are various approaches available that may assist, including talking therapies (sometimes known as psychotherapies ), prescription medicines and community support programs.
Medicines provide an effective solution to mental health conditions by altering brain chemicals that influence emotions and thought processes. By targeting their root cause, medicines can reduce symptoms while making other therapies like counselling more efficient.
Some individuals require hospitalisation or long-term treatment programs for severe or complex mental illnesses. Other treatments, including eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy (EMDRT), to alleviate psychological stress; talk therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), interpersonal psychotherapy or interpersonal psychotherapy may also prove helpful. People seeking help can turn to public mental health services provided by hospitals and community-based organisations – these may charge fees or receive Medicare rebates depending on individual cases; many healthcare professionals and communities work tirelessly against the stigma attached to mental illness – and many healthcare professionals and communities are working against it!
Prevention
Mental health can be affected by many different factors, including genetics, life experiences and their environment in which they live. Certain elements may increase or reduce the risk of mental illness respectively.
Prevention strategies aim to lower risks associated with mental illnesses. Prevention interventions may be universal, selective or indicated as with heart disease (statins) or pneumonia (pneumococcal vaccinations), and/or indicated, such as pneumococcal vaccinations for pneumonia. For mental health purposes, universal interventions aim to build resilience and support well-being among the population as a whole; selective ones target subsets identified as being at high risk.
Depression and bipolar disorder can often be prevented if help is sought early enough, which is why it is essential to discuss mental health, break down stigma, and take actions. Doing this helps people understand that having a mental illness does not indicate character flaw or weakness on one’s part.