What is mental health and how does it relate to me?

When your mind and body are working well, you can do your job, go to school, interact with others, do things you enjoy, and cope with life problems. When your mind and body are not working well together, you may struggle getting through your day in the same way. This may include difficulty maintaining your normal daily routines, not feeling hungry as you used to be, and/or having trouble sleeping (e.g., sleeping too much or too little). In fact, you may have a hard time taking care of yourself in general.

Mental health symptoms typically impact your brain, body, behavior, and your feelings/emotions. Words that many people use to describe these symptoms may include anxiety, worry, depression, feeling down or sad, stressed, and/or mood swings (e.g., mood is up and down). Understanding these signs and symptoms can help you know what to look for if you start experiencing changes in the way your mind and body are working together. In addition, we have learned that the impact of stress on our mind and body can be significant and effect our mental health. You will learn more about this and tools to help identify how stress effects your body in the section: How to become aware of your stress signals.

It is important to become familiar with your mind and body “signals” so you can understand when there is a change that requires you to talk with a trusted person. Review the resource below to help identify and discuss changes in your mind and body signals with a trusted person or provider.

Taking Charge of Mental Health
Infographic: NAMI Infographic – Taking Charge – https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/March-2016/Taking-Charge-of-Your-Mental-Health-(Infographic)

Getting the Right Start: Student Guide to Mental Health
Infographic: https://www.nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/Infographics/NAMI-Getting-the-Right-Start.pdf

Questions can help you evaluate your practices.

Examples:

Did I review information about my mind and body signals and/or share with a trusted person?

• If so, how did I feel going through the process?
• If not, when can I review on my own or reach out to a trusted person?

Am I more aware of what mental health means and how it effects my mind and body?

What did I learn that was most interesting to me? Do I have any questions about what I learned?

• If so, do I know where to find the answers or who to talk to?

Is there someone else that I know that can benefit from the information I learned?

Mental Health: The Basics
Video: https://youtu.be/IvnT7HwOZic