Mental Health Is More Than Just the Absence of Illness

The ability to bounce back from adversity has been referred to as "resilience".

• Resilient people also tend to positively view their ability to cope with challenges and seek social support when needed.

Those who are more resilient are better able to cope with stress and thrive even in the face of it.

Social support is important to good mental health. Loneliness has been shown to have a number of negative health effects.

• it has been linked to problems with both physical and mental health including cardiovascular disease, depression, memory problems, drug misuse, alcoholism, and altered brain function
• Decreases in social support caused by life changes such as going to college, facing social adversity, changing jobs, or getting divorced can have a negative impact on mental health.

Most important is that the quality of these relationships that matters.

Having rigid expectations can sometimes create added stress. Emotional flexibility may be just as important as cognitive flexibility.

• Mentally healthy people experience a range of emotions and allow themselves to express these feelings. Some people shut off certain feelings, finding them to be unacceptable.

Lack of psychological flexibility has been linked to some types of psychopathology, while research suggests that increase flexibility is connected to better life balance and improved resilience.

NAMI states that an estimated one in five U.S. adults experiences a mental health problem each year.

Risks to mental health can include:

• Discrimination
• Exposure to trauma
• Family history of mental illness
• Low income
• Medical illness
• Poor access to health services
• Poor self-esteem
• Poor social skills
• Social inequalities
• Substance use

Some of the factors that can help offer protection against poor mental health including having supportive social relationships, strong coping skills, opportunities for engagement in the community, and physical and psychological security.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests that some of the ways you can promote and maintain mental health include:

• Engaging in regular physical exercise
• Getting adequate sleep
• Helping others
• Learning new coping skills to manage stress
• Staying connected to other people
• Trying to keep a positive outlook on life

It is also important to be able to seek help if you are having difficulties. Talk to your doctor or mental health professional to help improve your mental health or address to help improve a psychological problem.

Mental health is much more than simply the absence of illness. It is important to note, that there are many factors that determine mental health and overall well-being.

Individual factors play an important part in this, but social, environmental, and financial circumstances also interact dynamically with these individual factors to either enhance or threaten mental health.