Mental health describes a person’s ability to cope with the conditions of life, respond to changes in those conditions, and live in a fulfilling way. A state of good mental health is called mental well-being. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (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 well-being and mental illness.
Mental well-being is not simply the absence of mental illness. Mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that seriously affects a person’s thoughts, emotions, personality, or behavior. A person in poor mental health does not necessarily have a mental illness. Conversely, a person who is successfully managing a mental illness can be in good mental health.
Many people associate good mental health with being happy. But, mental well-being is not a state of constant happiness. In fact, researchers have found that constant happiness or happiness at inappropriate times can be a sign of poor mental health or even mental illness. Instead, a person in good mental health feels different emotions and can appropriately express them. Someone might be bitter, hurt, and fearful for the future upon the loss of a job, for example. But, a person in good mental health will not overly dwell on these feelings or let them obstruct the search for another job or other opportunities.
Factors influencing mental health.
A vast, interconnected web of factors influence—and are in turn influenced by—an individual’s mental health. Many of these factors form feedback loops. In such a loop, a factor can contribute to a mental health problem, which in turn makes the original factor worse. For example, a person who does not get enough sleep might feel depressed. But, this depression might also keep the person from sleeping well.
Physiological factors.
Physiology refers to all the functions and activities of a living thing or of one of its parts. Physiological mental health factors, therefore, are those that are related to the individual’s mind and body.
Physical health, for example, is an important physiological factor in mental health. People who are in good physical fitness are more likely to be mentally healthy. Exercise can ease some symptoms of such mental illnesses as anxiety and depression. Other physiological components of mental health include sleep patterns, diet, and the presence of unmanaged or poorly managed mental illness.
Social and societal factors.
Mental health is affected by a person’s social interactions and by conditions in society at large. Negative interactions that can harm a person’s mental health include abuse, bad relationships, bullying, discrimination, lack of physical safety, poverty, and stressful school or work conditions. Social isolation can also contribute to poor mental health. Studies have shown that experiencing overt or systemic racism harms the victim’s mental health.
Environmental factors
also affect a person’s mental health. A person’s circadian rhythms can be disrupted by too little natural light during the day or too much light during the evening, leading to sleep and other disturbances. At high latitudes, the reduction of sunlight during fall and winter can lead to a mood disturbance called seasonal affective disorder. Chemical pollution, noise pollution, and lack of access to nature can also harm mental health.
