What is Mental Health Anyway?

By Christine Murray

Since 1949, May has been recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. Throughout my own career in the mental health field (I started graduate school to become a counselor back in 2000), one of the most exciting advances I’ve seen has been greater awareness and decreased stigma around mental health issues. 

I believe the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated these advances, in large part because the challenges surrounding the pandemic made it harder to ignore how many people grapple with mental health symptoms. In addition, the stressors associated with isolation, economic challenges, and other pandemic-related factors contributed to mental health struggles for many people of all ages. 

Still today, we are facing a national mental health crisis in the United States (see this article from the Pew Charitable Trusts and this report from Mental Health America for more information). This mental health crisis is made even more serious due to shortages of qualified mental health professionals in many communities (see this report from The Commonwealth Fund and this summary document from the National Institute for Health Care Management for more information). 

These days, it seems mental health is a hot topic on the minds of individuals, families, communities, service provider organizations, and policymakers. The term mental health comes up frequently in news reports, social media, and in everyday conversations about how to best support people facing mental health struggles. 

And yet, how often do we (even those of us who are mental health professionals) take a step back and reflect on what “mental health” even means. Often, when people are talking about mental health, they’re actually referring to mental health symptoms or viewing mental health from more of a problem-focused lens. 

To offer some insights into what mental health actually means, in this post I’ll share some resources and information that I have shared with students and trainees who I’ve taught in the past graduate-level courses and professional development programs. 

Let’s start by looking at a few formal definitions of “mental health”:

• Merriam-Webster: “The condition of being sound mentally and emotionally that is characterized by the absence of mental illness and by adequate adjustment especially as reflected in feeling comfortable about oneself, having positive feelings about others, and being able to meet the demands of daily life.” 
• The CDC: “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.”
• World Health Organization (WHO): “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…Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. It exists on a complex continuum, which is experienced differently from one person to the next, with varying degrees of difficulty and distress and potentially very different social and clinical outcomes.”
• American Psychological Association: “Mental health is a state of mind characterized by emotional well-being, good behavioral adjustment, relative freedom from anxiety and disabling symptoms, and a capacity to establish constructive relationships and cope with the ordinary demands and stresses of life.”
  

Across the various definitions of mental health, we can see several common themes, which I’ve summarized in the graphic below that is adapted from a teaching resource I’ve shared with students in the past:

I love looking at mental health through this comprehensive lens because it shows how mental health is a layered construct that impacts our well-being in different areas of our lives. 

So how is our mental health impacted when we experience mental health symptoms, such as anxiety, mood swings, or a loss of interest in normal activities? Well, it’s important to remember that mental health can be considered along a continuum, such as the following:

As staff from the Mayo Clinic state, “What's the difference between normal mental health and mental disorders? Sometimes the answer is clear, but often the distinction isn't so obvious.” The lines between having sound mental health and experiencing a diagnosable condition is often quite blurry. 

Mental health symptoms can show up in different aspects of people’s lives, such as the following:

• Cognitive (how someone is thinking)
• Behavioral (how someone is acting)
• Affective/emotional (how someone is feeling)
• Social (how someone is relating with other people in their life)

Similar to the graphic above depicting dimensions of mental health, below is another image I’ve adapted from past courses to show common elements of mental health disorders:

I could talk about this topic for days, but I’ll start wrapping up this post here with a few final thoughts on defining mental health:

• Thriving in the area of our mental health is about more than just having an absence of symptoms. In fact, we can experience mental health even if and when we have mental health symptoms when we learn to cope with them in ways that work for us.
• It’s helpful to keep a positive, comprehensive view of mental health in mind and not just focus on mental health in relation to symptoms and disorders. 
• Experiencing fluctuations in our mental health is normal! I had a graduate school professor who taught me an important life lesson when he said, “You’re not human if you don’t have a bad day from time to time.” This was such an important message I needed to hear at the time (over 20 years ago) and that I still remember often today. Being mentally healthy doesn’t mean we feel happiness and joy 100% of the time. Life can be tough, and we can navigate difficult situations and emotions by caring for our mental well-being, even when we don’t feel great.
• It’s important for every person to know how to connect with mental health resources, especially crisis resources that are available to provide 24/7 support. For example, the 9-8-8 Lifeline is an important number for everyone to know about in case we or someone we know ever needs immediate help. Visit our Other Resources page for other mental health-related resources. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you’d define “mental health.” Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below or send me a message to share other mental health resources that have been useful for informing your own understanding of mental health.