Mental Health Awareness…. Because Mental Health Matters.

 

What do you mean by mental health?

Mental health is a term that defines one’s mental wellness including psychological, social, and emotional states. It creates a markable impact on our feeling, actions, and thinking. Furthermore, it elucidates our relation development skills with others, stress handling skills, and making healthy choices.¹ 

Mental health is always crucial throughout the life span, whether child, teen or adult. Often mental illness and poor mental health are used as synonyms but both are different. One can suffer from poor mental health but do not have any mental illness and vice versa.

 

Why mental health is important?

A healthy individual is one, who is physically and mentally fit. It has been observed that if someone is having mental issues like depression they often suffer from different physical problems, specifically long-term medical conditions such as cardiac problems, stroke, and blood glucose levels resulting in diabetes. In the same way, chronic physical health conditions may lead to the risk for mental health problems.²

 

 

Do mental health transforms with time?

The mental health of anyone may transform with time, it is dependent on numerous factors.  If someone is stressed and burdened beyond handling limits, it may impact their mental health negatively. Such as complexities in relationships and trying to maintain good gestures with relatives, having financial crises, exhaustion in working due to long working hours, and similar sort of events, may lead to bad and even worse mental conditions.

 

10 amazing Facts about Mental Health.

How prone are mental health issues nowadays?

In the United States of America, Mental health issues are one of the most common illnesses.

• Mental health problems occurred in more than half of the population once in a life span.³
• Every 1 out of 5 people experiences a mental health problem in a given year.⁴
• Every 1 out of 5 children suffers from chronic mental health issues presently or at any stage of their life span.⁵
• Every 1 out of 25 people experiences a chronic mental health issue, like bipolar disorder, major depression, or schizophrenia.⁶

 

 

What are the reasons for mental health problems?

The cause of mental health issues cannot be a single factor, there are numerous situations that may lead to Mental health problems, for example;

• Mental trauma or abuse in the history (such as sexual abuse, violence, child abuse, etc.)
• Chronic health problems, such as diabetes, heart problem, and cancer.
• The brain issues like impaired biological materials, chemicals, and neurotransmitters in the brain.
• Sad feelings due to isolation or having lonely life.
• Use of drugs and alcohol.

By avoiding above mentioned facts, enhancing the quality of life, encouraging better social relations, and supporting each other, we can create a better and healthy society.

References:

1.     Strengthening Mental Health Promotionexternal icon. Fact sheet no. 220. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

2.     Chronic Illness & Mental Healthexternal icon. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health. 2015.

3.     Kessler RC, Angermeyer M, Anthony JC, et al. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of mental disorders in the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative. World Psychiatry. 2007;6(3):168-176.

4.     Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2016.

5.     Merikangas KR, He J, Burstein M, et al. Lifetime Prevalence of Mental Disorders in US Adolescents: Results from the National Comorbidity Study-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2010;49(10):980-989. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2010.05.017.

6.     Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2016.