Mental Health
Mental health can be thought of as how you feel, in terms of your emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. Everybody has mental health. It affects how we feel, think and act; as well as how we cope with things, our relationships with others and how we function day to day.
Things that might impact our mental health:
- Physical health
- Stress
- Significant life events
- Relationships with other people
- Diet
- Sleep quantity (how much sleep we have) and quality (how good that sleep is)
- Engaging with hobbies, interests and activities
- Environmental, societal and cultural factors
Mental health problems - also known as having a mental health disorder or condition, mental illness, mental ill-health. There is no right or wrong term, people have their own preferences.
Anybody of any age, gender, ethnicity, race, background, religion, spirituality, ability, education, economic status, or sexual orientation can experience mental health problems; as they could with their physical health.
In 2023, around one in five young people aged 8 to 25 years had a probable mental health condition (NHS England, 2023). Common mental health problems include anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), eating problems and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Click here to learn more from ‘Mind’.