Its high time that we start talking about mental health as a very common topic of conversation. It is something that makes an individual realize his or her own abilities, how to cope with stress, productivity skills, etc. Not having good mental health can lead to mental illness. It is just a physical illness of the brain that leads to behavioural changes, unnatural thinking, emotional instability, anxiety disorder, depression, etc which makes it a little more difficult to deal with life. As research suggests, it can be caused due to a few conditions such as genetics, brain chemistry, brain structure, experiencing trauma or having another medical condition, like heart disease. It affects a lot of people every year. They can be your family members, friends, people you know, anyone. 19% of the adult population, 46% of teenagers and 13% of children are affected by mental illnesses each year. But do these people receive proper treatment? Well, hardly any due to the stigma attached to mental health.
Although the general perception about mental illness has improved over the past decades, studies show that the stigma against mental illness is still significant, largely due to media stereotypes and lack of education, and that people tend to link negative stigmas to mental health conditions at a very high rate than to other diseases and disabilities, such as cancer, heart disease or liver problems.
But mental health is something that affects everything. Starting from how you think to how you behave in a regular basis, from overcoming challenges to building relationships. It affects you as a whole. Setbacks and hardships will always be difficult to recover from.
But having a stable mental health is very important. Staying healthy is great but staying emotionally and mentally healthy is the best place that one can be in. Being free of depression, anxiety, or other psychological issues and having the absence of mental illness, mental health refers to the presence of positive characteristics and a great state of mind which is highly important.
