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. 

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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.

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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.