Mental Health

The Facts

What is Mental Health

Mental health issues are becoming more common and can be affected by factors in your daily life. Good mental health is not just about the absence of a serious mental illness. Mental health also describes psychological well-being and it is an important part of physical health. Mental health involves balancing all aspects of your life: social, physical, spiritual, financial, and mental. Positive mental health can help a person deal with life’s challenges and difficult moments. It can also help a person recover from mental illness.

 

Common Mental Illnesses

Types of mental illness include mood disorders such as bipolar disorder (mood disorder characterized by periods of extremely elevated mood, extremely low mood, and normal mood) and depression (long-lasting feelings of intense sadness and hopelessness), schizophrenia (disorder of the message system of the brain that affects a person’s ability to determine what is reality and what is not), and anxiety disorders (a group of disorders where anxiety is persistent and interferes with the ability to cope and disrupts daily life). Conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (persistent, unwanted thoughts or certain behaviours that are repetitive and unnecessary but are extremely difficult to overcome) and phobias (fears caused by certain situations that can interfere with a person’s ability to cope) are also mental health conditions. Mental illness can have a serious impact on a person’s ability to function and live day-to-day over a long period of time.

 

Read more about common mental health problems by clicking the links below.