Today I did a video asking 2 questions around
Mental health, here are the answers.
Q1. What does the term Mental Health mean to you?
Mental health influences how we think and feel about ourselves and others and how we interpret events. It affects our capacity to learn, communicate, and to form, sustain and end relationships. It also influences our ability to cope with change, transition and life events: like having a baby, moving house, bereavement etc.
So when we talk about Mental health, what we want to know is, are you in good mental health or poor mental health?
Being in poor mental health does not mean you have a mental illness. Think of it like your physical health, are you in good or poor health.
If you have poor health due to lower back pain, it doesn't mean you have anything medically wrong. You might just have tight muscles, look after yourself, for example have a massage and the pain goes away. You might be in poor mental health because your workload is too much and your stressed. What if you shared that workload? The stress disappears and you move back into good mental health. The longer you stay in poor mental health, the risk of getting an mental illness is higher.
Being a mental health first aid trainer, I find a majority of people believe mental health is a negative area, they think you are talking about depression, anxiety etc. This is not the case. We are just asking where your mental health is at. We need to know that people are looking after it, just as they do their physical health.
Q2. Can you recover from a Mental Illness?
People can, and do recover from even the most severe mental health issues.
Recovery is much more than achieving the absence of symptoms (ie, removal of being tired all the time, loss of interest, persistent sadness). Recovery means different things to different people. So it is important to remember that Mental health is person centered, so finding out what recovery means for each individual is key to helping them move forward.
For one person, recovery may mean, taking medication and being able to live a fulfilled life. Someone else may see it as not taking medication anymore and being able to feel how they did before the illness. Others may see it as a long-term process, often described as a journey. A journey that will be different for each person.
There are many factors that influence recovery. These include having supportive social networks (family, friends) and playing a meaningful role in society.
Recovery may also be impacted by the quality and availability of treatments and the person's willingness and ability to take up the opportunities available to them.
Recovery is a deeply personal process and HOPE is central to this.