Learning about mental health
LEARNING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
Mental health refers to our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act, our relationships with others and how we function on a daily basis. Some people call mental health ‘emotional health’ or ‘wellbeing’ and it’s just as important as good physical health.
Our mental health can vary throughout our lives, depending on a number of factors, such as:
- Significant life events
- Stressors and demands
- The amount and quality of sleep
- Physical health
- Diet/nutritional intake
- Relationships with other people
- Environmental, societal and cultural factors
- How much we participate in leisure activities, hobbies and interests.
Not everyone will experience a mental illness in their lifetime, but everyone will experience a change in their mental health. Sometimes, a change in mental health can result in a mental illness. People can have a significant, diagnosed mental illness and, with the right coping resources, they can be in good mental health and manage daily life.
Being mentally healthy doesn’t just mean that you don’t have a mental health problem or illness. If you’re in good mental health, you can usually:
- Make the most of your potential
- Cope with life
- Play a full part in your family, workplace, community and among friends.
It’s important to state that mental illness can be treated and people can recover from it. Mental illness can be managed with various types of support and might be short-lived or more enduring.
COMMON MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS
Mental illnesses are often split into different categories. Some of these categories are called mood disorders (such as depression), anxiety disorders, personality disorders and psychotic disorders (such as schizophrenia).
It can feel overwhelming when taking that first step in your own research, so we’ve provided useful, bitesize knowledge about some common mental health problems.
Anxiety
Anxiety is the feeling associated with being worried, tense or afraid – particularly about things that are about to happen, or which could happen in the future. It’s a natural human response and can be experienced through thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.
Depression
Depression is a low mood that affects everyday life and usually lasts for at least two weeks. In mild depression, some people are able to maintain their normal life but struggle with feeling very low and often experience other symptoms. At its most severe, depression can be life-threatening because it can cause suicidal feelings.
OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has two main parts: obsessions and compulsions.
Obsessions are unwelcome thoughts, images, urges, worries or doubts that repeatedly appear in someone’s mind. These are uncomfortable thoughts to experience and can make a person feel anxious.
Compulsions are repetitive activities that someone does to reduce the anxiety caused by the obsession. It could be something like repeatedly checking a door is locked, repeating a specific phrase in your head or checking how your body feels.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a complex mental health diagnosis which can include periods of psychosis. Around 1 in every 100 people has schizophrenia and there are many misconceptions about this illness.
Many experiences and behaviours can be part of schizophrenia. They can start suddenly, or they might develop gradually over time. Each person's experience is unique.
Psychosis
Psychosis is when a person perceives or interpret reality in a very different way from people around them. They might be said to 'lose touch' with reality. It can also called a 'psychotic experience' or 'psychotic episode'.
The most common types of psychotic experiences are hallucinations, delusions and disorganised thinking and speech. Psychosis affects people in different ways. Someone might experience it once, have short episodes throughout their life, or live with it most of the time.
Eating problems
An eating problem is when someone has a relationship with food that they find difficult. Many people think that someone with an eating problem will be over- or underweight. People might also think that certain weights are linked to certain eating problems. Neither of these assumptions is true. Anyone can experience eating problems. This is regardless of age, gender, weight or background.
What's the difference between an eating problem and an eating disorder?
An eating disorder is a medical diagnosis. This diagnosis is based on eating patterns and includes medical tests on weight, blood and body mass index (BMI).
An eating problem is any relationship with food that someone finds difficult. This can be just as difficult to live with as a diagnosed eating disorder.
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is a condition that affects mainly mood. The word bipolar has two parts: Bi meaning 'two' and Polar meaning 'completely opposite'. The term bipolar refers to the way mood can change between two very different states – mania and depression. Bipolar disorder used to be called manic depression, but this term is not used any more.
Some medical professionals may also use the term bipolar ‘affective disorder’. 'Affective' means that the disorder relates to mood or emotions.
Self-harm
Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves as a way of dealing with very difficult feelings, painful memories or overwhelming situations and experiences. There are no fixed rules about why people self-harm. It really can be very different for everyone. People of all ages and backgrounds self-harm. There is no one ‘typical’ person who hurts themselves.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
PTSD happens after experiencing something extremely frightening, like violence, abuse, rape or a life-threatening situation. It can also affect someone if they witnessed something awful happening, such as a serious accident.
Most people take time to get over a traumatic event, but with PTSD, it is difficult to move past the event and dreams, flashbacks or upsetting thoughts about it continue for a long time. Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) is a more serious reaction to a long-lasting traumatic experience, for example abuse, neglect or frequent violence.
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Neurodiversity and mental health
Neurodiversity is an umbrella term that recognises natural variations in how people think, learn and process information. Conditions such as ADHD and autism can be considered part of this diversity. For many individuals, these differences are simply part of their identity and can bring strengths. For others, their experiences can be much more challenging, for example impacting significantly on their relationships and ability to function at work or school.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition which is associated with difficulties in attention, activity levels and doing things without thinking them through. These differences usually begin in childhood, although they may only be recognised later.
ADHD is understood to arise from a combination of genetic and other factors.
Autism
Autism, also defined as a neurodevelopmental condition, affects how a person communicates, processes sensory information and experiences social interaction.
It's a spectrum condition, meaning individuals vary widely in their strengths and difficulties. Some people are able to manage themselves and learn ways to cope in the world around them, and others may need more support.
See more information on neurodiversity and mental health in the toolkit:
Now you know a little bit more about common mental health problems, discover great practice advice on the next page.
