What is Mental Health?

1 in 5 adults struggle with a mental health condition each year, such as depression, anxiety or PTSD. 1 in 17 adults struggle with a persistent and severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, each year. While there is no magical cure for mental health conditions, there are many effective treatments that can help stabilize your mental health. First, it is important to understand that having mental health problems is nothing to be ashamed about. We all deal with stress or sadness differently. Your mental health can be affected by your daily living conditions, your genetics, or even a little bit of both. Most mental health conditions begin around age 14, but some can lie dormant in our bodies until they are triggered. A trigger could be something as traumatic as death in the family, loss of a job or even moving to a new city. Nobody is “more” or “less” susceptible to dealing with mental health conditions.

There is no “one way” to live with a mental health condition or mental illness, and all of us experience our conditions differently. Luckily there is one way to work towards recovery and begin a path towards wellness, and that is with professional help. Getting professional help for your mental health conditions or mental illnesses often feels like a sign of weakness, but I can assure you it is actually a sign of strength.

There is not one proven method of therapy to “cure” depression, which is why Atlanta Center for Mental Health utilizes a multidisciplinary approach. We treat the individual, not just the diagnosis. With group therapy, CBT, yoga, medication management- and more, there is a greater chance of you finding a path to wellness that best suits your needs. Mental health affects 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, and going from poor mental health, to positive mental health, is kind of like a personal trainer recommending moderate exercise and the proper diet to a client trying to get in shape, with a little extra help and the right guidelines, it can be a simple fix. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, such as genes or brain chemistry, life experiences, and your family’s history.

• Eating or sleeping in excess
• Not eating or sleeping
• Quitting a job, sports team, or other activity they once enjoyed
• Having unexplained aches and pains
• Feeling helpless/hopeless
• Drinking or using drugs more than usual
• Feeling “all over the place” with emotions
• Becoming defensive when asked about behavior, starting arguments
• Having persistent negative thoughts
• Believing things that are not true
• Thinking of self-harming or currently self-harming.
• Wanting to harm others
• Becoming unable to perform daily tasks such as taking care of your kids or getting to work or school

If you are struggling with any of these symptoms, you are not alone and help is available. Living with an untreated mental health condition can be exhausting and debilitating. Deciding to enter residential treatment can help ease the burden you have been feeling, teach you new coping skills, and  help you find recovery and a life beyond your mental health condition . If you are having thoughts of harming yourself or others please call 911 or go to the closest emergency room.