What is mental health and wellbeing?
Mental health might be better described as ‘emotional well-being’. Some people feel that ‘mental health’ has a stigma attached to it. Emotional wellbeing is a term used to describe a range of issues an individual can experience , from stress, burnout and anxiety, through to the more serious mental health difficulties such as schizophrenia and manic depression. Generally emotional well-being is about:
- How we feel about ourselves
- How we feel about others
- How we cope with the demands of life
In reality, we all can feel a bit low or find ourselves getting angry over little things in our lives from time to time – a low point in our ‘emotional wellbeing’. As such, most of us will probably experience emotional difficulties to some degree within our lives. For some however, these feelings become so overwhelming that they can affect our ability to go through day to day life, which can then develop into mental ill health.
People with emotional difficulties can face discrimination. This is often due to other people’s ignorance and lack of understanding. Those who experience it can often feel alone and misunderstood. The reality is you are NOT alone. In fact 1 in 4 adults may experience emotional difficulties at some time in their life
