Skip to main content
Medicine LibreTexts

6.1: Mental Health Overview

  • Page ID
    13363
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    What Is Mental Health?

    Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

    Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:

    • Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry
    • Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse
    • Family history of mental health problems

    Mental health problems are common but help is available. People with mental health problems can get better and many recover completely.

    Early Warning Signs

    Not sure if you or someone you know is living with mental health problems? Experiencing one or more of the following feelings or behaviors can be an early warning sign of a problem:

    • Eating or sleeping too much or too little
    • Pulling away from people and usual activities
    • Having low or no energy
    • Feeling numb or like nothing matters
    • Having unexplained aches and pains
    • Feeling helpless or hopeless
    • Smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual
    • Feeling unusually confused, forgetful, on edge, angry, upset, worried, or scared
    • Yelling or fighting with family and friends
    • Experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships
    • Having persistent thoughts and memories you can’t get out of your head
    • Hearing voices or believing things that are not true
    • Thinking of harming yourself or others
    • Inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of your kids or getting to work or school

    Learn more about specific mental health problems and where to find help.

    Mental Health and Wellness

    Positive mental health allows people to:

    • Realize their full potential
    • Cope with the stresses of life
    • Work productively
    • Make meaningful contributions to their communities

    Ways to maintain positive mental health include:

    • Getting professional help if you need it
    • Connecting with others
    • Staying positive
    • Getting physically active
    • Helping others
    • Getting enough sleep
    • Developing coping skills

    Mental illnesses are common in the United States. In 2015, there were an estimated 43.4 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with any mental illness (AMI) within the past year. This number represented 17.9% of all U.S. adults.

    Screen Shot 2019-07-28 at 3.34.43 AM.png

    Contributors and Attributions

    Public Domain Content


    This page titled 6.1: Mental Health Overview is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Kelly Falcone via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

    • Was this article helpful?