Mental Health Resources
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.
Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life. It is more than being free from illness. It is a dynamic process of change and growth.
"... a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
- The World of Health Organization
"a conscious, self-directed, and evolving process of achieving full potential."
- The National Wellness Institute.
Why Wellness Matters
Our well-being directly affects our actions and emotions. Everyone needs to achieve optimal wellness to subdue stress, reduce the risk of illness, and ensure positive interactions. Everything we do and every emotion we feel relates to our well-being. It is an ongoing circle.
There are eight dimensions of wellness Intellectual, emotional, occupational, environmental, financial, spiritual, physical, and social. Each of the dimensions is equally vital in the pursuit of optimum health. One can reach an optimal level of wellness by understanding how to maintain and optimize each wellness dimension.
Additional Resources
*Click the Images for link*
Angst is a 56-minute film that explores anxiety, its causes, effects, and what we can do about it. The filmmakers' goal is to have a global conversation and raise awareness around anxiety. Angst features candid interviews with kids and young adults who suffer, or have suffered, from anxiety and what they've learned about it. The film includes discussions with mental health experts about the causes of anxiety and its sociological effects and help, resources, and tools.
AFSP raises awareness, funds scientific research, and provides resources and aid to those affected by suicide.
The Child Mind Institute is an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders. Many resources are available on various topics and a symptom checker tool.
Depression and Suicide Awareness for High School Students. Teen depression is real, common, and serious. Educating yourself about it can make it understandable, treatable, and manageable.
