Our mental health can vary according to our circumstances and can change across our lifetime, in the same way as our physical health does.
Mental health problems are among the most common of all health conditions, directly affecting about a quarter of the population in any one year. Depression and anxiety are the most widespread conditions.
Wellbeing, emotional welfare and psychological health are other terms often used to describe mental health.
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Good mental health is not simply the absence of diagnosable mental health problems, although good mental health is likely to help protect against development of many such problems. Good mental health is characterised by a person’s ability to fulfil a number of key functions and activities, including:
- the ability to learn
- the ability to feel, express and manage a range of positive and negative emotions
- the ability to form and maintain good relationships with others
- the ability to cope with and manage change and uncertainty
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Mental health problems range from the worries we all experience as part of everyday life to serious long-term conditions. The majority of people who experience mental health problems can get over them or learn to live with them, especially if they get help early on.
Mental health problems are usually defined and classified to enable professionals to refer people for appropriate care and treatment. But some diagnoses are controversial and there is much concern in the mental health field that people are too often treated according to or described by their label. This can have a profound effect on their quality of life. Nevertheless, diagnoses remain the most usual way of dividing and classifying symptoms into groups.
Most mental health symptoms have traditionally been divided into groups called either ‘neurotic’ or ‘psychotic’ symptoms. ‘Neurotic’ covers those symptoms which can be regarded as severe forms of ‘normal’ emotional experiences such as depression, anxiety or panic. Conditions formerly referred to as “neuroses” are now more frequently called “common mental health problems.”
Less common are ‘psychotic’ symptoms, which interfere with a person’s perception of reality, and may include hallucinations such as seeing, hearing, smelling or feeling things that no-one else can.
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You can help keep yourself in good mental health by:
talking about your feelings
keeping active
eating well
drinking sensibly
keeping in touch with friends and loved ones
asking for help when you need it
taking a break
doing something you’re good at and enjoy
accepting who you are
caring for others
Ways to look after your mental health
This poster shows 10 ways in which you can look after your mental health.
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