Mental Illness

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Meaning, Characteristics, Management

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Mental Health: Meaning, Characteristics, Management

Mental health is something we talk a lot about in today's stressful world, but what does is actually mean? Is it just about not having a diagnosable mental health condition? Does being mentally healthy mean we have to be happy all the time? While both of those are related to the meaning of mental health, the truth is that it's a lot more complicated than just being free of mental illness and having a positive state of mind.

Mental health is a term used to describe emotional, psychological, and social well-being.1 A person's mental health quality is often measured by how adaptively they can cope with everyday stressors. Mental health allows people to use their abilities, be productive, make decisions, and play an active role in their communities.

Having poor mental health is often confused with having a mental illness. But mental health actually refers to a person's state of mental well-being whether or not they have a psychiatric condition.2 The truth is that mental health is about a lot more than just avoiding conditions like anxiety or depression. It's also about

I am mentally ill, I guess 🤪

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You know that’s one of those terms I think about a lot these days. I like to point that out to my psychoanalysist, and he likes to point back to me, asking myself to explain what I mean by that.

It’s pretty easy to see a cut or a broken bone. You can test if someone is infected with the COVID virus or has the flu. Symptoms are pretty obvious. Mental illness is a much more complicated thing, if it really exists at all or is just in your head. There really is no right or wrong way to view the world.

One of the things I struggle with is figuring out whether or not a thought it mentally ill or not. What part is my beliefs, and which part is the illness? Are my beliefs right or wrong? But it’s not that simple. My analyst — and honestly most of the books I’ve read on mental illness point out — that beliefs are only harmful if they cause actual harm to myself or others.

I think part of my problem, is I don’t fully agree with the liberal consensus that is so dominate in Albany-area. But that also doesn’t make me a Trump-loving conservative. I believe in the right to be left alone, especially out in the country and in the woods. I believe in the second amendment and gun rights. I’m not worried about a little smoke in country — things that happen on the farm or in the wilderness are far less impactful then what happens in the cities, multiplied over thousands of people.