Youth’s mindset

What is mental health really ?

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Mental health vs Mental illness-They are not the same

Before I started learning more about mental health, I honestly thought mental health and mental illness were basically the same thing. If someone mentioned mental health, I automatically thought of depression or anxiety or even worse, some severe disorder. But as a 15 year old,I’ve realised they’re actually opposite poles.

Mental health is something every person has, exactly like physical health. Some days, my mental health feels great . I’m motivated ,happy ,and excited about things . Other days, I feel stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted . That doesn’t mean I have a mental illness , it just means my mental health isn’t at its best at that moment.

I remember a couple months in my summer break where i was bombarded with a million different activities along with APs and SAT and a big transition to 11th grade is about to happen and the cherry on top, all the friendship drama. I felt anxious and couldn’t stop overthinking everything. At first, I thought something was seriously wrong with me but after some research and talking to people i realise that it just was a lot of pressure on my mental health which is still there due to the loads of things i have to do as an almost ib student and what is scary is that school has not even started yet. I did though, realise that feeling stressed or upset and throwing tantrums now and then is JUST alright and part of everyone’s life.

Mental illness is different. It refers to medical conditions like depression, anxiety disorders, OCD or eating disorders that can have a significant impact on a person‘s daily life. These conditions are much more than just having a bad day or feeling stressed before an exam.

One thing I’ve learnt is that you can have good mental health without having a mental illness, and you can also have a mental illness while working hard to maintain good mental health through support and treatment.

As teenagers, I think it’s really important that we understand this difference. The more we talk about it correctly. The easier it becomes to support our friends. Ask for help when we need it and break the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Mental health is for everyone. Mental illness affects some people, knowing the difference can help us become more understanding and farming support and help us to express our words better to the opposing person, even though I am just 15. I have lots of things on my plate and I am still navigating through my feelings, but despite of so many things going on, I still wanted to create this blog so that teenagers who are just like me can also talk, and this can be a safe space and a good community. Please share your opinions and like for this weeks blog 🙂