Mental Wellness
Mental health is the condition of being in good psychological and emotional well-being. It is an umbrella term that relates to your ability to think, feel, behave, and cope with the world around you. Mental health is not just one thing—it’s a combination of factors like your emotions, thinking patterns, experiences, and relationships with others.
Mental health disorders affect people of all ages and backgrounds. They can range from mild to severe, depending on the type of disorder.
What causes mental health disorders?
Mental health problems can be caused by a number of factors. They may be caused by genetics, health, and/or by environmental factors. Mental health problems can also be caused by a combination of these.
Genetics: Mental health problems are often genetic in nature. If your family members have had mental health issues and you also have them, it’s likely that it’s due to genetics.
Environmental and Health Factors: Some environmental and health factors that can cause mental health problems to include traumatic events (such as being abused), living in an environment where drugs are readily available and/or used, or experiencing other forms of abuse (physical or emotional). Other environmental factors include family history, cultural influences, peer pressure, lifestyle, current health status, poor gut health, etc.
Common symptoms include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Low mood
- Stress
- Trouble concentrating
- Low motivation
- Feeling hopeless
- Change in appetite
Statistics
Throughout their lifetimes, more than 50% of people will receive a mental illness or disorder diagnosis. Every fifth American will suffer from mental illness at some point in the year. One in five kids, either now or at some point in their lives, has a severely crippling mental illness. One in twenty-five Americans has a severe mental illness like schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, or clinical depression. According to CDC,
- Percent of adults aged 18 and over with regular feelings of worry, nervousness, or anxiety: 11.7%
- Percent of adults aged 18 and over with regular feelings of depression: 4.8%
Why treating the root cause of mental health problems important?
The root cause of mental health problems is often not a simple one. It’s not just that you’re depressed, or you’re anxious, or you have OCD. The root cause is often some combination of genetic predisposition and environmental factors.
Why is it important to treat the root cause of mental health problems? Because if you don’t, you may never get better! For example, if your depression is caused by an imbalance in your serotonin levels (which it is for many people), then taking an SSRI will just put a Band-Aid on the problem rather than actually fixing it. So even though it might help with your symptoms temporarily, it doesn’t address the underlying issue and, therefore, won’t last long term.
Our clinicians at Benehealth guide you through physical symptoms, stress, and anxiety to help you heal your mind and reclaim your mental health.
