Why does Mental Health Matter?

When people get hurt or feel sick, they must seek medical treatment to get better. However, the stigma associated with mental health has been around for a long time, even though many changes have occurred through the years. Today, people are more aware of why mental health is important and when it is necessary to get help.

Mental Health Awareness Month is observed in May as a nationwide celebration of well-being. Not long ago, our society would treat individuals with mental health issues as outcasts. As a result, the benefits gained from counseling and therapy were hardly implemented. With the changing times, society has evolved to be more accepting and understand that we all need a little help sometimes. However, some attitudes are hard to change, so we still have a long path ahead.

What is a mental illness?

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “a mental illness is a behavioral or emotional disorder. Mental health conditions can vary in their causes.

Lately, two categories have been used to group and define mental illnesses: AMI (Any Mental Illness) and SMI (Severe Mental Illness). While AMI is a general term for any condition ranging in severity, SMI is when mental illness impacts the patient’s ability to perform daily tasks.

Mental health concerns can often feel isolating, and many times, patients may not know how to communicate their feelings. That’s why having a solid support network matters and can make a difference in treating mental illnesses.

Warning signs

It may be challenging to distinguish between a potential sign of a mental illness and behavioral changes since each condition has different symptoms. However, there are some typical signs of a mental health issue, such as:

Mental health affects everything

Since one in five adults in the country has an AMI and one in twenty experience an SMI yearly, only a tiny percentage of those seek services for mental health, mainly because of the associated stigma. Therefore, it is critical to keep raising awareness about mental health. Here are some reasons why mental health matters:

An excellent way to enjoy life to the fullest is by caring for ourselves physically and mentally. So please, do not hesitate to ask for help regarding mental health. No matter what others might think, there is nothing wrong in saying: I need help!