Mental Wellbeing
What is mental health?
Did you know?
Mental health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely when you do not have a mental disorder or disease.
A check list for mental wellbeing
Being mentally healthy means more than just not having mental health problems. It also means:
- living in a place you like and can call home
- having something that you believe is meaningful to do during the day
- having at least one person you can talk to about anything
- finding some joy in life and having fun now and again
- seeing that you have choices and are able to make decisions about what you want to do
- liking yourself – mostly
- feeling that you are able to do most of the things you would like to do
- taking a calculated risk now and again
- having found a place in the world and feeling good about it
- being able to make yourself feel better when you feel bad
- having a sense that there is a purpose to life.
Source: Mind You: Healthy minds, healthy lives, Oranga hinengaro, oranga wairua, oranga tinana. Wairarapa DHB booklet.
“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right” ~ Henry Ford
There is no health without mental health! Talk to people who experience mental illness and they will tell you this is true.
Without good self-esteem and a positive outlook on life – you cannot fully benefit from your physical health. And that has a lot to do with how you look at life, as Henry Ford so eloquently points out. When we have mental wellbeing we see our cup as half full, rather than half empty.
It’s well known that stressful life events can have a serious impact on our mental health. But when our mental health is strong, we respond better to those stresses and challenges, we are more creative, use our abilities to the fullest and make the most of opportunities. It helps us to more fully enjoy and appreciate the people and environment around us and gives us the ability to feel, think and act in ways that make it easier to do this.
Respect is important to mental health
Mental health also involves our emotional and spiritual wellbeing – that includes being able to respect all cultures and genders, and others who we see as less fortunate than ourselves.
A quick way to assess your mental health is to ask, do you regularly experience emotions such as happiness, well-being, enjoyment, harmony and peace? If so, it’s likely you're in good mental health. Conversely, if you regularly experience sadness, anger, frustration, disharmony, negative thoughts or worse: your mental health is at risk.
The conundrum is, the more at risk you are, the more difficult it may be to recognize your need for help - being mentally healthy is not only about being aware of how your mental state is affecting your life, but also asking for help if your quality of life is being affected.
It’s good to know, that while we can all experience mental health problems over our lifetime, for most people they are not usually too severe or long lasting.
Mental health:
- contributes to all aspects of life
- is essential for your well-being and normal functioning
- contributes to quality of life, and can be increased or diminished by the actions of others
- concerns everyone because it affects our everyday lives in homes, schools, workplaces and in leisure activities
- influences your spiritual life, and your spiritual life can make a significant contribution to your mental health
- makes it possible to have satisfying and enduring relationships.
People who experience serious mental illness can have a shortened life span
Disease death rate for people with mental illness compared to general population:
- heart 2.2 x higher
- cancer 1.5 x higher
- influenza 5 x higher
- diabetes 3 x higher
- respiratory 2.8-4 x higher
Source: Singh, A and Cohen, S (2001), A general Practitioners guide to Managing Severe Mental Illness. London: Sainsbury Centre
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