What is mental health anyway?

This is a good question, and one that I think we can too easily brush off as an irrelevant topic, or shy away from because we find it something akin to needing to have our childhoods analyzed by a “shrink,” or tend to moralize by confusing character flaws with mental health symptoms. These are equally inaccurate and unhelpful.

So, the question remains: what is mental health anyway? On its website, the American Psychiatric Association provides a succinct but comprehensive explanation: “Mental health is the foundation for emotions, thinking, communication, learning, resilience, hope and self-esteem. Mental health is also key to relationships, personal and emotional well-being and contributing to community or society. Mental health is a component of overall well-being. It can influence and be influenced by physical health.”

I think this definition establishes the importance and broad-ranging implications of mental health. Mental health touches every aspect of our lives, and has a bi-directional relationship with our physical health. There is a lot of emphasis on taking proper care of our bodies in our culture. From exercise and supplements, to organic skincare and grounding, we are inundated with the importance of our physical health.

Because of this, a helpful and natural analogy between physical and mental health can be offered. Most of the time, most people have good physical health and the day-to-day issues can be taken care of at home. Many times, even some health issues that are out of the ordinary can be managed with over-the-counter remedies at home.

However, there are times when the ability to treat physical illness exceeds our capacity and we need to go see a medical professional for treatment. Sometimes this treatment is temporary, sometimes it is chronic. Oftentimes, the treatment of physical health involves a combination of several interventions, such as medications, procedures and at-home instructions. Regardless of whether we can take care of our physical health without a medical professional or need the care of one, it is always best when we have the support and help of others while we deal with a health issue. Also, treating and maintaining physical health always involves our understanding and cooperation on some level.

So it is with mental health. Most of the time, most people have good mental health and the ups and downs of daily life are within our capacity to navigate. Many times, even some issues that are out of the ordinary (grief, loss, tragedy) can be managed without professional help, especially with the support of others.

Like physical health, there are times when mental health issues exceed our capacity for addressing them ourselves, even with the help of loved ones. At these times, we need the help of mental health professionals. Sometimes, this treatment is a few months, sometimes it’s many months. Oftentimes, it involves a combination of several interventions (specific treatment modalities, medications, practice between sessions, etc.).

And like physical health, it is always best when we have the support and help of others while we deal with a mental health issue.

And like physical health, treating and maintaining our mental health always involves our understanding and cooperation on some level.

Our brain is an organ like the heart, lungs, liver, stomach, etc., susceptible to dysfunction and disease in the very same ways that any of the other organs are. However, our brain is THE organ of organs, the “driver” of our very being, the “hardware of the soul,” as Dr. Daniel Amen puts it. This means that when something is off with the brain, it’s off with our very selves. Physical ailments also have this same effect, but to a much smaller degree. When the knee is hurt, the brain tells us the who, what, when, where and how to go about getting the knee fixed. When the brain is hurt, so to speak, the very organ that is responsible for directing the care is in some capacity unable to do so. When this “driver” is out of whack, it’s called a mental illness.

So what is mental illness?

Before I offer a definition of what mental illness is, I would like to say what mental illness is not. Mental illness is NOT a so-called character flaw, moral failing or a choice. Sometimes mental illness can be impacted by these other things, or impact them, and sometimes the symptoms of certain mental illnesses can appear to be character flaws, moral failings or bad choices.

I think the term “mental illness” is a loaded term. We tend to cringe or have other reactions to this term because of the stereotypes, stigma and social misunderstanding about this term. Mental illness could be called “brain illness,” but because our mental health is connected to emotions, thinking, communication, learning, resilience, hope, self-esteem, relationships, well-being, community, and society, it is not always as simple as that.

At their core, “mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses can be associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities,” according to the American Psychiatric Association website. These changes in the brain affect our very selves and our relationships with others, which is everything.

And very importantly, mental illnesses are treatable and many people have had successful treatment. This is good news, because mental health has far-reaching implications in every area of our lives. Just like when a bone is broken and the break grows back stronger, we can have even better mental health by learning and growing through struggles.

I hope that this World Mental Health Day (observed annually on Oct. 10), can be an impetus to begin to think about your own mental health.