Mental Health Awareness – Why Is Mental Health Important?

Mental Health Awareness – Why Is Mental Health Important?

[Music] [Applause] [Music] you may not realize it but using these words to describe someone with a mental health condition can be very harmful while a mental illness may not always be visible on the outside it doesn’t mean someone isn’t hurting on the inside in fact one in six Floridians struggles with the mental health condition it’s time for all of us to change how we think and speak about mental illness mental illness can come in uniform no wonder this is a topic minifying hard to talk about the American Psychiatric Association defines mental illness as a health condition involving changes in thinking emotion or behavior these conditions may affect someone’s ability to relate to others and function each day but how do you define mental health and how do you stay mentally healthy mental health to me just is taking care of yourself I think getting enough sleep staying stress-free spending time for yourself having a good time it’s you know it’s about mental wellness really I think and so being your best self and feeling good most of the time and be and having energy and being able to enjoy each moment is really I think what it’s about usually when I hear mental health I initially think of like mental illness so I feel like unfortunately that’s the first thing people usually like connect with mental health honestly I haven’t really thought about mental health before I guess it’s just being healthy mental it like you work out and stuff so I guess it would be the same you know with school or whatever for me to stay mentally healthy I definitely just try to be active and get involved and I exercise regularly and I take medicine my medicine every day and I talked to my doctor and therapists regularly and I also attend a peer support group weekly I have a very strong like support system with my family so I know that if like any time I have any kind of issue or I feel any type of way I feel very comfortable talking to my mom or my sister anybody like that I think being around people helps me a lot so whether it’s friends family love my family I love being with them so that really keeps me mentally healthy no less an authority than the World Health Organization has said that there is no health without mental health so from the very highest levels of health care there is a recognition that you cannot truly be a healthy person without attention to to mental health as well and while we’re all familiar with mental illness the absence of mental illness does not necessarily mean that someone is mentally healthy what are some of the components that go into being mentally healthy being able to understand yourself and what your needs are what your emotions are and so on being able to communicate your needs to others hear what they have to say in an empathic way and to be able to resolve differences there it’s important also to know how to cope with challenges in life and also how to be resilient a skill that we can learn and so it’s very important for us to all work together to incorporate mental health as part of our overall health profile mental health is important in fact there can be no health without mental health this video in the series of videos that follow has been put together by the Mental Health Council of the Big Bend a group of local mental health service providers experts and stakeholders we’ve designed this series of videos to educate you on key mental health topics and to help connect you with mental health resources it’s time for all of us to get involved in the conversation about mental health because mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of it’s a medical problem just like heart disease or diabetes to get connected to mental health resources or to learn more about them call 2-1-1 Big Bend by dialing the 3 digit number 2 1 1 or visit their web page at 200 Big Ben org

Watch an interview with Conversations with Nicole featuring Dr. Larry Kubiak, PhD, at the Tallahassee Memorial Behavioral Health Center. Learn more at TMH.ORG/MentalHealth.