Mental Health Awareness Month: Examining Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness Month here in the US. Thankfully, in recent years there has been more of a spotlight on raising awareness for mental health. You’ve likely heard the phrase, “take time for your mental health”. But what does that mean, and what exactly is mental health?

Mental health is a term used to describe our emotional health, psychological health and social health on a continuum. These factors, in addition to physical health, affect how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Mental health is fluid, like physical health, and can change at a moment's notice.

Here’s a breakdown of these three main aspects, along with some tools to help you improve your own mental health.

Emotional Health:

Emotions are bodily reactions enacted by neurotransmitters and hormones in response to the present reality. When you hear “listen to your body” we’re talking about your emotions, giving yourself space to notice just what the body does without thinking (too much).

This could be a tightening of the stomach when you’re giving a presentation despite “knowing your stuff”, or a natural smile when you notice something that brings you joy.

You can be aware of your emotions, or not notice these fluctuations in your body related to your current surroundings or internal stimuli. The more mindful and connected to your body you are, the more likely you are to notice your emotions and the varying degree of their presence.

Psychological Health:

Psychological health refers to your overall functioning in relation to your feelings. Feelings are what you experience after your brain perceives an emotion and assigns a meaning to it. You can also think about something (feeling) and then create an emotional response.

Think of something that brings you joy (like the most beautiful rose) or something that you are not fond of (like bugs, or vermin, etc.). Notice the body sensation that arises from these thoughts. The interplay between feelings and emotions is where your psychological health comes in. It is how your feelings impact your overall functioning.

Mindfulness can help you gain awareness of the feelings you’re having, in both identifying those feelings, we well as the body sensations (emotions) that go along with them.

Therapy can help you change the feelings and experience of emotions, as do many other aspects of life. You’re probably engaging in lots of things already to manage your feelings, such as friendships, physical health, nutrition, sleep. These are all good things! However, it’s important to identify ways you might be managing your feelings that are negatively impacting your overall functioning, such as sleeping too much, eating too much, drinking, drug use, etc. Feelings can be tricky, but awareness can be the key to making any changes here.

Social Health:

Social health is your ability to interact, adapt, and form meaningful relationships with others. Humans are social creatures, we are not meant to be alone. Many studies have been done on social relationships and health outcomes, showing a significant link to how our social life affects our health (mental and physical). Yet social relationships can be a challenge as well. You can improve your social health by working on balancing your personal and social time, understanding who you are, developing boundaries and clear communication, and seeking fun and joy in your relationships.

Group therapy can help tremendously with social health, as it provides a safe opportunity to work through some of the social health challenges you may be experiencing. Group therapy can be centered around a specific topic or may be a general group that addresses social health.

In addition to therapy, joining a team, being a part of community, making spiritual connections with others, regularly attending workouts or classes, can all be exceedingly beneficial - in essence, creating a sense of belonging with others.

This month, mental health professionals across the country are working to educate the public about mental health. At CLIMB, we aim to create opportunities for your whole health to flourish. Whether through our community connection and events, or by working with one of our providers in a group or individual setting, mental and physical health are integrated into everything we do.

CLIMB supports mental health awareness, not just during the month of May, but in all of our offerings. Our hope is to teach lasting strategies for improved overall wellbeing.