- Hi, everyone.
In today's video, we are going to be going over
what good mental health is and some ways to achieve it.
(gentle music)
Hi and welcome back to the channel.
If you haven't seen one of our videos before,
my name is Lauren and I make videos about what it's like
to live with schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia.
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Thank you so much.
All right, so what is good mental health
and how do you achieve it?
I think a lot of people kind of confuse mental health
with mental illness.
Good mental health is not, however,
simply the absence of diagnosable mental health problems
for mental illness.
Everyone has mental health,
and it can fluctuate from good to poor,
and it is very important for everyone to take care of it.
I find it kind of helpful to understand the difference
between mental health and mental illness
and how they can also affect each other by using this grid.
On the X axis, we have mental health,
and on the Y access, we have mental illness.
So, in this top left quadrant
are people who have good mental health
and who do not have a mental illness.
In the top right quadrant
are people who have poor mental health,
but still don't have a diagnosable mental illness.
In the bottom left quadrant
are people who also have good mental health,
but who also are diagnosed with a mental illness.
And in the bottom right quadrant
are those who have poor mental health
and who also have a mental illness.
It's really important to remember
that mental health is a very complex thing.
The fact that someone does not have a mental illness
does not necessarily mean
that their mental health is flourishing.
Likewise, it's possible to be diagnosed
with a mental illness while feeling well
in many aspects of life
and having generally good mental health.
I would say this is where I kind of land right now.
In the bottom left quadrant
where I am diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder,
but in general, I would say
I have fairly good mental health right now.
According to the World Health Organization,
mental health is a state of wellbeing
in which every individual realizes
his or her own potential,
can cope with the normal stresses of life,
can work productively and fruitfully,
and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.
So like I explained earlier,
mental health is not merely the absence
of a mental health condition.
It is about being cognitively,
emotionally, and socially healthy,
which basically means the way we think, feel,
and develop relationships in life.
So someone who has good mental health
will likely be able to do things
such as feel, express, and manage a range
of positive and negative emotions,
form and maintain healthy relationships with others,
carry out everyday tasks and look after themselves.
So this might include things like nutrition,
exercise, sleep, cleaning, working,
learning, and social activities.
They might be able to take part in activities they enjoy,
to cope with and manage change and uncertainty.
Now, some signs that someone may be struggling
with their mental health are feeling low,
numb, irritable, tearful, hopeless, or worthless,
withdrawal from friends or family,
changes to sleeping patterns,
whether it may be sleeping more or less than unusual,
eating more or less than usual,
and thoughts about self harm or suicide.
Now I would just wanna mention,
please seek help as soon as possible
if you are experiencing these types of thoughts.
Okay, so how do you actually look after your mental health
and achieve mental wellness?
So, here are some tips for taking care
of your mental health.
Talk about your feelings.
When I had very poor mental health,
I rarely if ever did this.
Once I learned better communication skills
and found people and mental health professionals
that I felt comfortable sharing with,
my mental health definitely improved.
Keep active, this one is huge for me.
If I don't stay active,
I can easily distinguish a decline in my mental health.
Running is my favorite way to keep active
as I find it not only helps my body to stay healthy
and in turn helps my mind,
but it is also a great way to ground myself, too.
Eat well.
There is evidence in the connection
between nutrition and mental health.
I know it can feel hard to put the effort in
to eat healthy when you are struggling
with your mental health, but it really is worth the effort
in how it can potentially help
to improve your mental health.
Drink sensibly.
I think that drinking is a common coping mechanism
when someone is struggling with their mental health.
What's maybe not considered as much though
are the very negative effects
it can have on your mental health.
I'm not saying to not drink at all,
but do so sensibly and in moderation.
Keep in touch.
Withdrawal is very, very common
when someone is struggling with their mental health.
I have withdrawn from friends and family
many times while struggling,
and it only exacerbated my mental health difficulties.
Even if it feels hard or uncomfortable,
try to stay in touch with loved ones.
The social connection can be really help.
Ask for help.
If you wish struggling with your mental health,
don't be afraid to ask for help.
Whether you ask someone in your life for help
or a mental health professional,
there is really never any shame in asking for help.
Take a break.
Life can be quite fast-paced nowadays,
and I don't think that's always the best thing
for our mental health.
If you are feeling overwhelmed or burnt out,
try to give yourself the space
to take a break when you need.
Do something you're good at.
Doing this is not only good
for your self-esteem and self-worth,
but it's also usually fun to do something
we're good at and enjoy.
Accept who you are.
This may have been the most difficult one for me to do,
and I don't think I'm alone in that struggle.
It can be a long journey coming to terms with
and accepting who you are, flaws and challenges and all,
but the work you put into getting to a place of acceptance
can really positively impact your mental health.
Care for others.
It may be kind of a selfish reason to help others,
but helping others typically makes you feel good, too.
It's also a great way to stay socially connected as well.
Okay, so that was a lot, but to kind of sum it up,
if you work on various aspects
of maintaining a healthy lifestyle,
build a strong support network and healthy relationships,
and you're not afraid to seek professional support
when you need a little bit of extra help,
these can all help you in working toward
good mental health and wellness.
Also, if you have any other tips
for maintaining good mental health,
let us know in the comments below.
If you wanna see more videos from us,
make sure to subscribe.
And also just a quick reminder
that if you would like to support us
in continuing to make helpful videos like this,
please check out the link to our Patreon page.
Thanks so much for watching, and as always,
wishing you and your loved ones good health.
You'll see in the next video, bye.