We all have a mental health – whether it is good, bad or in the middle. Put simply, your mental health is the way you feel on any particular day.
Our mental health and wellbeing can also be known as our “emotional wellbeing”. Generally, we all have days where we feel good and days when we don’t. However, a person with a mental health or emotional wellbeing problem will have more bad days than good.
Mental health problems can affect the way you think, feel and behave. They range from common mental health problems (such as depression and anxiety) to more rare problems (such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder).
Depending on which mental health condition they have, people may feel tired, sad, helpless, angry or agitated all the time. They might make irrational decisions such as spending too much money, having inappropriate relationships, or they might feel like life just isn’t worth living.
Experiencing a mental health problem can be upsetting and very frightening, especially at first. In some cases, these fears can mean that people do not seek help for many years. But it’s better to talk to someone about how your feeling and ask for help when you need it.
There are many different mental health problems, and some symptoms are common to more than one diagnosis. So you may experience the symptoms of more than one mental health problem at once.
People with severe mental health conditions are invited annually for review.
