Mental Health Is Health

What is Mental Health?

Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well, and work well, and contribute to their community (World Health Organization ,2022). Mental Health affects our daily lives; we can have good stress such as getting a promotion from a new job or bad stress such as losing a house. Many people must navigate through the world of having to cope through life stressors, trauma, illnesses and much more. Research shows that people with mental health problems are more likely to have preventable physical health conditions such as heart disease. This can be for a variety of reasons, including genetics, the genes that make it more likely that you will develop a mental health problem may also play a part in physical health problems, low motivation, some mental health problems or medications can affect your energy or motivation to take care of yourself, difficulty with concentration and planning.

You may find it hard to arrange or attend medical appointments if your mental health problem affects your concentration. Lack of support to change unhealthy behavior, healthcare professionals may think you’re not able to make changes, so it won’t offer any support to cut down on drinking or give up smoking. For example being less likely to receive medical help, healthcare professionals may assume your physical symptoms are part of your mental illness and not investigate them further. People with a mental illness are less likely to receive routine checks (like blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol) that might identify symptoms of physical health conditions earlier.

Mental health problems can come with physical symptoms. Our bodies and minds are not separate, so it’s not surprising that mental illness can affect your body. Depression can come with headaches, fatigue and digestive problems, and anxiety can create an upset stomach, for example. Other symptoms can include insomnia, restlessness and difficulty concentrating (Mental Health Organization,2025). According to recent estimates, 20 percent of Americans, or about one in five people over the age of eighteen, suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder each year. Four of the ten leading causes of disability, Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, PTSD and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, are mental illnesses. About 3 percent of the population have more than one mental illness at a time.

About 5 percent of adults are affected so seriously by mental illness that it interferes with their ability to function in society. Approximately 20 percent of doctor’s appointments are related to anxiety disorders such as panic attacks. Eight million people have depression each year and two million Americans have schizophrenia disorders, and 300,000 new cases are diagnosed each year (NIH, N.D).

Another way to think about mental health is like thinking about the weather. As the seasons change, the weather does too. There are nice bright and sunny days which make us feel happy and want to do things like going outdoors, but on other days the weather can change to darker, rainy days, where you don’t feel like leaving the house. Like the weather, your mental health can go through periods of positive and bright bursts of energy, and it can also dip and drag you down a darker road. You may feel exhausted and lack motivation or energy to do simple things, such as getting out of bed or getting on with your day (Mental Health Foundation, 2025). Your mental health can affect different areas in your life like a domino effect.

The 8 Dimensions of Wellness can help all our wellbeing, think of wellness as being healthy in many dimensions of our lives. This includes Emotional, Physical, Social, Environmental, Financial, Occupational, Spiritual & Intellectual. These 8 Dimensions are interconnected; one dimension builds on one another. This brings us back to Mental Health is Health. If our Mental health is declining, our emotional state is not good, which in turn can lead to physical problems due to not sleeping or over sleeping, which can lead to not showing up to work and losing a job then the financial situations start creeping in and then you can’t pay your bills. It’s important to seek help with your mental health once you start feeling overwhelmed, stressed or may be experiencing physical problems. Our bodies are connected to one another, and we have to treat them just like any other health issue.