essay on what is mental health

• Essay Editor

Mental Health Essay

Introduction

Mental health, often overshadowed by its physical counterpart, is an intricate and essential aspect of human existence. It envelops our emotions, psychological state, and social well-being, shaping our thoughts, behaviors, and interactions. With the complexities of modern life—constant connectivity, societal pressures, personal expectations, and the frenzied pace of technological advancements—mental well-being has become increasingly paramount. Historically, conversations around this topic have been hushed, shrouded in stigma and misunderstanding. However, as the curtains of misconception slowly lift, we find ourselves in an era where discussions about mental health are not only welcomed but are also seen as vital. Recognizing and addressing the nuances of our mental state is not merely about managing disorders; it's about understanding the essence of who we are, how we process the world around us, and how we navigate the myriad challenges thrown our way. This essay aims to delve deep into the realm of mental health, shedding light on its importance, the potential consequences of neglect, and the spectrum of mental disorders that many face in silence.

Importance of Mental Health

Mental health plays a pivotal role in determining how individuals think, feel, and act. It influences our decision-making processes, stress management techniques, interpersonal relationships, and even our physical health. A well-tuned mental state boosts productivity, creativity, and the intrinsic sense of self-worth, laying the groundwork for a fulfilling life.

Negative Impact of Mental Health

Neglecting mental health, on the other hand, can lead to severe consequences. Reduced productivity, strained relationships, substance abuse, physical health issues like heart diseases, and even reduced life expectancy are just some of the repercussions of poor mental health. It not only affects the individual in question but also has a ripple effect on their community, workplace, and family.

Mental Disorders: Types and Prevalence

Mental disorders are varied and can range from anxiety and mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder to more severe conditions such as schizophrenia.

• Depression: Characterized by persistent sadness, lack of interest in activities, and fatigue.
• Anxiety Disorders: Encompass conditions like generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks, and specific phobias.
• Schizophrenia: A complex disorder affecting a person's ability to think, feel, and behave clearly.

The prevalence of these disorders has been on the rise, underscoring the need for comprehensive mental health initiatives and awareness campaigns.

Understanding Mental Health and Its Importance

Mental health is not merely the absence of disorders but encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Recognizing the signs of deteriorating mental health, like prolonged sadness, extreme mood fluctuations, or social withdrawal, is crucial. Understanding stems from awareness and education. Societal stigmas surrounding mental health have often deterred individuals from seeking help. Breaking these barriers, fostering open conversations, and ensuring access to mental health care are imperative steps.

Conclusion: Mental Health

Mental health, undeniably, is as significant as physical health, if not more. In an era where the stressors are myriad, from societal pressures to personal challenges, mental resilience and well-being are essential. Investing time and resources into mental health initiatives, and more importantly, nurturing a society that understands, respects, and prioritizes mental health is the need of the hour.

• World Leaders: Several influential personalities, from celebrities to sports stars, have openly discussed their mental health challenges, shedding light on the universality of these issues and the importance of addressing them.
• Workplaces: Progressive organizations are now incorporating mental health programs, recognizing the tangible benefits of a mentally healthy workforce, from increased productivity to enhanced creativity.
• Educational Institutions: Schools and colleges, witnessing the effects of stress and other mental health issues on students, are increasingly integrating counseling services and mental health education in their curriculum.

In weaving through the intricate tapestry of mental health, it becomes evident that it's an area that requires collective attention, understanding, and action.

  Short Essay about Mental Health

Mental health, an integral facet of human well-being, shapes our emotions, decisions, and daily interactions. Just as one would care for a sprained ankle or a fever, our minds too require attention and nurture. In today's bustling world, mental well-being is often put on the back burner, overshadowed by the immediate demands of life. Yet, its impact is pervasive, influencing our productivity, relationships, and overall quality of life.

Sadly, mental health issues have long been stigmatized, seen as a sign of weakness or dismissed as mere mood swings. However, they are as real and significant as any physical ailment. From anxiety to depression, these disorders have touched countless lives, often in silence due to societal taboos.

But change is on the horizon. As awareness grows, conversations are shifting from hushed whispers to open discussions, fostering understanding and support. Institutions, workplaces, and communities are increasingly acknowledging the importance of mental health, implementing programs, and offering resources.

In conclusion, mental health is not a peripheral concern but a central one, crucial to our holistic well-being. It's high time we prioritize it, eliminating stigma and fostering an environment where everyone feels supported in their mental health journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the primary focus of a mental health essay?

Answer: The primary focus of a mental health essay is to delve into the intricacies of mental well-being, its significance in our daily lives, the various challenges people face, and the broader societal implications. It aims to shed light on both the psychological and emotional aspects of mental health, often emphasizing the importance of understanding, empathy, and proactive care.

• How can writing an essay on mental health help raise awareness about its importance?

Answer: Writing an essay on mental health can effectively articulate the nuances and complexities of the topic, making it more accessible to a wider audience. By presenting facts, personal anecdotes, and research, the essay can demystify misconceptions, highlight the prevalence of mental health issues, and underscore the need for destigmatizing discussions around it. An impactful essay can ignite conversations, inspire action, and contribute to a more informed and empathetic society.

• What are some common topics covered in a mental health essay?

Answer: Common topics in a mental health essay might include the definition and importance of mental health, the connection between mental and physical well-being, various mental disorders and their symptoms, societal stigmas and misconceptions, the impact of modern life on mental health, and the significance of therapy and counseling. It may also delve into personal experiences, case studies, and the broader societal implications of neglecting mental health.

Related articles

To "what extent" essay writing.

In the realm of academic writing, 'To What Extent' essays pose a unique challenge, requiring a sophisticated examination of diverse perspectives and evidence. Whether addressing IELTS prompts or academic assignments, mastering this writing format is essential for developing comprehensive arguments that thoroughly explore the intricacies of different subjects. Notably, in the IELTS exam, discussion questions are a common task that often determines a substantial portion of the writing score. Test ...

Setting the Right Tone: Your Guide to Mood in Writing

Writing is more than just putting words on paper. It's about making readers feel something and creating a world they can step into. Knowing how to create the right mood in writing is really important for anyone who wants to write stories. Let's discuss what mood is and how you can use it to make your writing better. What is mood in writing? Mood in writing is the feeling readers get when they read your work. It's what stays with them after they finish a part of your story or the whole book. M ...

Effective Ways to Increase Your Essay's Word Count

Have you ever found yourself staring at a half-finished essay, wondering how to reach the word count you need? Don't worry; you're not the only one. Many students face this problem, whether they're writing for school or trying to get a scholarship. Let's look at some helpful ways to add more words to your essay without making it worse. 1. Set Clear Word Count Targets Before you start writing, it's good to have a plan. Setting word count goals can help you stay on track and make writing feel l ...

How To Humanize AI-Generated Text?

Writing with AI tools has become quite common for many writers and students. While these tools can give you a good start, they often lack that special touch that makes writing really interesting. Let's talk about some smart ways to make AI-written text sound more like a real person wrote it so your readers can connect with it better. 1. Use AI Text Humanizer Tools Interestingly, one good way to humanize AI-written text is to use special AI tools made for this purpose. These AI essay humanizer ...

How to Write an Editorial: Useful Steps for Students

Editorials significantly shape public opinion and discourse. For students, aspiring journalists, or advocates, mastering the craft of captivating editorial writing can be transformative. By harnessing the power of well-crafted arguments and insightful perspectives, commentaries have the potential to spark critical thinking and inspire action on pressing societal issues. Let's explore the process of crafting an editorial essay that deeply resonates with readers and stimulates meaningful discussi ...

How Can You Make Your Sentences Flow Better?

Have you ever read a piece of writing that just feels right? The kind that effortlessly pulls you along from one idea to the next? That's the magic of good sentence flow. It's not always easy to do, but it's important. No matter what you're writing — an essay, a blog post, or a story — how to make your writing flow can really change how people enjoy it. Let's look at some ways to improve a sentence and make your sentences flow better. 1. Using AI Writing Tools for Better Writing AI writing to ...

Farewell to Our Raccoon Mascot

Hello, Aithors! We have some bittersweet news to share with you today. As Aithor continues to grow and evolve into a multipurpose tool, we've decided it's time to say goodbye to our beloved raccoon mascot. Our raccoon symbolized wisdom and curiosity, qualities we hold dear. However, we also understand that raccoons can sometimes be associated with theft and trickery, which doesn't align with the values we want to convey as we expand our horizons. As we transition away from the raccoon, we're e ...

A Guide on How To Write a Book Report

Have you ever found yourself looking at a blank page, not knowing how to start a book report? Don't worry, you're not the only one. Many students find this task hard, but writing a book report can be fun and rewarding if you know how to do it. Let's learn how to write a book report that will make anyone who reads it happy and help you understand what you read better. What is a book report? A book report is a written piece that discusses what a book is about, its main ideas, and how it's put t ...

Talk to our experts

1800-120-456-456

• Mental Health Essay

Essay on Mental Health

According to WHO, there is no single 'official' definition of mental health. Mental health refers to a person's psychological, emotional, and social well-being; it influences what they feel and how they think, and behave. The state of cognitive and behavioural well-being is referred to as mental health. The term 'mental health' is also used to refer to the absence of mental disease. 

Mental health means keeping our minds healthy. Mankind generally is more focused on keeping their physical body healthy. People tend to ignore the state of their minds. Human superiority over other animals lies in his superior mind. Man has been able to control life due to his highly developed brain. So, it becomes very important for a man to keep both his body and mind fit and healthy. Both physical and mental health are equally important for better performance and results.

Importance of Mental Health 

An emotionally fit and stable person always feels vibrant and truly alive and can easily manage emotionally difficult situations. To be emotionally strong, one has to be physically fit too. Although mental health is a personal issue, what affects one person may or may not affect another; yet, several key elements lead to mental health issues.

Many emotional factors have a significant effect on our fitness level like depression, aggression, negative thinking, frustration, and fear, etc. A physically fit person is always in a good mood and can easily cope up with situations of distress and depression resulting in regular training contributing to a good physical fitness standard. 

Mental fitness implies a state of psychological well-being. It denotes having a positive sense of how we feel, think, and act, which improves one’s ability to enjoy life. It contributes to one’s inner ability to be self-determined. It is a proactive, positive term and forsakes negative thoughts that may come to mind. The term mental fitness is increasingly being used by psychologists, mental health practitioners, schools, organisations, and the general population to denote logical thinking, clear comprehension, and reasoning ability.

 Negative Impact of Mental Health

The way we physically fall sick, we can also fall sick mentally. Mental illness is the instability of one’s health, which includes changes in emotion, thinking, and behaviour. Mental illness can be caused due to stress or reaction to a certain incident. It could also arise due to genetic factors, biochemical imbalances, child abuse or trauma, social disadvantage, poor physical health condition, etc. Mental illness is curable. One can seek help from the experts in this particular area or can overcome this illness by positive thinking and changing their lifestyle.

Regular fitness exercises like morning walks, yoga, and meditation have proved to be great medicine for curing mental health. Besides this, it is imperative to have a good diet and enough sleep. A person needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night on average. When someone is tired yet still can't sleep, it's a symptom that their mental health is unstable. Overworking oneself can sometimes result in not just physical tiredness but also significant mental exhaustion. As a result, people get insomnia (the inability to fall asleep). Anxiety is another indicator. 

There are many symptoms of mental health issues that differ from person to person and among the different kinds of issues as well. For instance, panic attacks and racing thoughts are common side effects. As a result of this mental strain, a person may experience chest aches and breathing difficulties. Another sign of poor mental health is a lack of focus. It occurs when you have too much going on in your life at once, and you begin to make thoughtless mistakes, resulting in a loss of capacity to focus effectively. Another element is being on edge all of the time.

It's noticeable when you're quickly irritated by minor events or statements, become offended, and argue with your family, friends, or co-workers. It occurs as a result of a build-up of internal irritation. A sense of alienation from your loved ones might have a negative influence on your mental health. It makes you feel lonely and might even put you in a state of despair. You can prevent mental illness by taking care of yourself like calming your mind by listening to soft music, being more social, setting realistic goals for yourself, and taking care of your body. 

Surround yourself with individuals who understand your circumstances and respect you as the unique individual that you are. This practice will assist you in dealing with the sickness successfully.  Improve your mental health knowledge to receive the help you need to deal with the problem. To gain emotional support, connect with other people, family, and friends.  Always remember to be grateful in life.  Pursue a hobby or any other creative activity that you enjoy.

What does Experts say

Many health experts have stated that mental, social, and emotional health is an important part of overall fitness. Physical fitness is a combination of physical, emotional, and mental fitness. Emotional fitness has been recognized as the state in which the mind is capable of staying away from negative thoughts and can focus on creative and constructive tasks. 

He should not overreact to situations. He should not get upset or disturbed by setbacks, which are parts of life. Those who do so are not emotionally fit though they may be physically strong and healthy. There are no gyms to set this right but yoga, meditation, and reading books, which tell us how to be emotionally strong, help to acquire emotional fitness. 

Stress and depression can lead to a variety of serious health problems, including suicide in extreme situations. Being mentally healthy extends your life by allowing you to experience more joy and happiness. Mental health also improves our ability to think clearly and boosts our self-esteem. We may also connect spiritually with ourselves and serve as role models for others. We'd also be able to serve people without being a mental drain on them. 

Mental sickness is becoming a growing issue in the 21st century. Not everyone receives the help that they need. Even though mental illness is common these days and can affect anyone, there is still a stigma attached to it. People are still reluctant to accept the illness of mind because of this stigma. They feel shame to acknowledge it and seek help from the doctors. It's important to remember that "mental health" and "mental sickness" are not interchangeable.

Mental health and mental illness are inextricably linked. Individuals with good mental health can develop mental illness, while those with no mental disease can have poor mental health. Mental illness does not imply that someone is insane, and it is not anything to be embarrassed by. Our society's perception of mental disease or disorder must shift. Mental health cannot be separated from physical health. They both are equally important for a person. 

Our society needs to change its perception of mental illness or disorder. People have to remove the stigma attached to this illness and educate themselves about it. Only about 20% of adolescents and children with diagnosable mental health issues receive the therapy they need. 

According to research conducted on adults, mental illness affects 19% of the adult population. Nearly one in every five children and adolescents on the globe has a mental illness. Depression, which affects 246 million people worldwide, is one of the leading causes of disability. If  mental illness is not treated at the correct time then the consequences can be grave.

One of the essential roles of school and education is to protect boys’ and girls' mental health as teenagers are at a high risk of mental health issues. It can also impair the proper growth and development of various emotional and social skills in teenagers. Many factors can cause such problems in children. Feelings of inferiority and insecurity are the two key factors that have the greatest impact. As a result, they lose their independence and confidence, which can be avoided by encouraging the children to believe in themselves at all times. 

To make people more aware of mental health, 10th October is observed as World Mental Health. The object of this day is to spread awareness about mental health issues around the world and make all efforts in the support of mental health.

The mind is one of the most powerful organs in the body, regulating the functioning of all other organs. When our minds are unstable, they affect the whole functioning of our bodies. Being both physically and emotionally fit is the key to success in all aspects of life. People should be aware of the consequences of mental illness and must give utmost importance to keeping the mind healthy like the way the physical body is kept healthy. Mental and physical health cannot be separated from each other. And only when both are balanced can we call a person perfectly healthy and well. So, it is crucial for everyone to work towards achieving a balance between mental and physical wellbeing and get the necessary help when either of them falters.

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

A Plus Topper

Improve your Grades

Mental Health Essay | Essay on Mental Health for Students and Children in English

February 12, 2024 by Prasanna

Mental Health Essay:  Mental Health includes one’s psychological, emotional and social well-being – one’s mental health affects how they think, feel and act. It also helps in determining how one handles stress, makes choices and relates to others. Mental health can affect one’s daily life activities, relationships and physical health.

Mental health refers to the condition of cognitive and behavioural well-being. Sometimes the term ‘mental health’ is used to determine the absence of a mental disorder. It is the condition of well-being whereby each person realizes their potential and can deal with life changes and uncertainty.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Mental Health for Students and Kids in English

We provide the students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic Mental Health for reference.

Long Essay on Mental Health 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Mental Health is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Mental health is crucial and integrates a component of health. Mental health includes an individual’s psychological, emotional and social well-being. Proper mental health results in the proper mental functioning that result in being productive in activities, healthy and fulfilling relationships with other people and having the ability to cope and adapt to adversity.

Proper mental health is essential in every stage of life – from childhood and teenage to adulthood. Throughout a lifetime, an individual can experience mental health issue at any point. This affects not only their mood and behaviour but also changes their way of thinking, of looking at life and facing challenges.

Even though mental health is a highly personal thing, what affects one person may or may not affect the other person; however, some significant factors contribute to mental health problems. These factors include life experiences such as trauma or abuse, biological factors such as genes or chemistry of the brain, and even the family history of mental health problems can affect an individual. Poor mental health is also linked with stressful work conditions, rapid social changes, gender discrimination, gender discrimination, social exclusion, physical illness and human rights violation.

Mental health problems are common, but for the longest time, people have avoided the entire concept of it and taken mental health for granted. At one point, mental health was considered taboo, and anyone seeking help was labelled as mentally ill. Mental health and mental illness are not similar things.

For a long time, mental health has been defined as the absence of mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. Mental illness typically refers to all the diagnosable mental disorders – health conditions that are characterized by alterations in mood, thinking and behaviour associated with impaired functioning or distress.

Mental health and mental illness together go hand in hand. Individuals having optimal mental health conditions can also face mental illness, where people who have no mental illness can also have poor                 mental health. In recent times, people have started taking mental health seriously and taking proper steps in dealing with any mental health issues. Help is available out there; people with mental health problems can get better by seeking help.

People suffering from mental health issues show various symptoms such as little or no energy, pushing away people and pulling themselves back from regular activities, loss of sleep or the will to eat, smoking, drinking or doing drugs, feeling helpless, yelling and fighting, losing temper very quickly, harming themselves and many more.

Taking care of mental health not only is getting help from professionals when needed but also connecting with other, getting involved in physical activities, helping others, getting enough sleep and staying positive that there is a way out. Positive mental health allows people to realize their full potential, cope with stress in life, work productively and make meaningful contributions to the community. Various factors in people’s lives such as intrapersonal relations, physical factors, childhood trauma and many other conditions can disrupt mental health conditions. Taking care and looking after one’s mental health preserves an individual’s ability to enjoy life.

Short Essay on Mental Health 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Mental Health is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Mental health is not only the psychological and emotional well-being of an individual but also it is the state of well-being where an individual can use their emotional and cognitive abilities to meet the demands of everyday life and contribute to the society. Mental health is essential in every stage of one’s life, starting from childhood to adolescents up to adulthood.

Every year October 10th is observed as world mental health day. It was started as an annual activity by the world federation by the deputy secretary-general of UNO (United Nations Organisation) at that time for mental health.

Mental health resources in every country are different. At the same time, developed countries of the western world provide mental health programs for every age group. In third world countries where it becomes a struggle to find the basic needs of the families, not much importance is given providing proper mental health aid.

10 Lines on Mental Health in English

• Mental health is the state of psychological well-being, or mental illness is absent.
• One out of American adults faces mental health issues.
• One in ten young people has experienced a period of significant depression.
• Mental health condition such as anxiety, depression and stress may develop due to life-changing physical health problems such as diabetes, cancer or pain.
• Less than 20% of adolescents and children with diagnosable mental health problems receive the proper treatment that they require.
• Having a gene that links to a mental health disorder such as depression or schizophrenia doesn’t necessarily mean that the condition will be developed.
• Proper mental health is linked to psychological and mental well-being.
• Nearly 1 in 5 world’s children and adolescents have a mental disorder.
• Depression is one of the chief causes of disability, affecting 246 million people.
• At the age of 14, about mental health disorders begin.

FAQ’s on Mental Health Essay

Question 1. Name a few common mental health disorders.

Answer: Anxiety disorders, mood disorders and schizophrenia disorder are a few common mental health disorders.

Question 2. What are the factors contributing to mental health problems?

Answer: Biological factors such as genes, life-changing experiences such as trauma, abuse or chronic illness and even family history of mental health problems.

Question 3.  How can mental health be improved?

Answer: Talking about how one feels, keeping active, eating well and healthy, taking proper rest and sometimes even asking for help.

• Picture Dictionary
• English Speech
• English Slogans
• English Letter Writing
• English Essay Writing
• English Textbook Answers
• Types of Certificates
• ICSE Solutions
• Selina ICSE Solutions
• ML Aggarwal Solutions
• HSSLive Plus One
• HSSLive Plus Two
• Kerala SSLC
• Distance Education

Essay on Mental Health

Students are often asked to write an essay on Mental Health in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Mental Health

Understanding mental health.

Mental health is as important as physical health. It refers to our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act.

The Importance of Mental Health

Good mental health allows us to handle stress, make choices, and relate to others. It’s crucial at every stage of life, from childhood to adulthood.

Factors Affecting Mental Health

Many factors can impact mental health, including biological factors, life experiences, and family history of mental health issues.

Mental Health and Stigma

Unfortunately, there’s a stigma around mental health. People with mental health problems are often misunderstood and judged.

Mental Health Care

Also check:

250 Words Essay on Mental Health

Introduction.

Mental health, an often overlooked aspect of overall well-being, is as significant as physical health. It encompasses our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, affecting how we think, feel, and act.

Mental health is integral to living a balanced, fulfilling life. It influences our ability to cope with stress, relate to others, and make decisions. In the college years, mental health is especially crucial as students deal with academic pressure, social changes, and the transition into adulthood.

Challenges to Mental Health in College

College students face unique mental health challenges. The pressure to perform academically, social anxiety, and the struggle to fit into new environments can all contribute to mental health issues. These can manifest as depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and more.

The Role of Society and Institutions

Society and institutions play a substantial role in promoting mental health. By creating an environment that acknowledges mental health issues and provides support, we can help mitigate these challenges. Colleges should provide mental health resources and encourage students to seek help when needed.

500 Words Essay on Mental Health

Mental health, a critical aspect of overall wellbeing, is often overlooked in the hustle and bustle of modern life. It’s a broad term encompassing our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act, influencing our handling of stress, relationships, and decisions.

Mental health is as vital as physical health. It contributes to our cognitive functions, behavioral patterns, and emotional stability. Good mental health enhances our productivity, effectiveness, and ability to contribute to our community. Conversely, poor mental health can lead to severe complications like depression, anxiety, and even suicide.

Stigma and Mental Health

Stigma is a significant barrier to mental health care. It can lead to discrimination and misunderstanding, discouraging individuals from seeking help. Education is crucial to dispel myths and stereotypes, fostering a more supportive and understanding society.

Mental Health in College Students

College students are particularly vulnerable to mental health issues. They face unique challenges such as academic pressure, social struggles, and the stress of transitioning into adulthood. Colleges should prioritize mental health services, providing resources and support to students in need.

The Role of Therapy

Mental health and technology.

Technology has revolutionized mental health care. Digital platforms provide access to therapy and self-help tools, making mental health resources more accessible. However, the overuse of technology can negatively impact mental health, highlighting the need for balance.

In conclusion, mental health is an integral part of our lives. It’s crucial to understand its importance, recognize the factors that affect it, and work towards reducing stigma. As society becomes more aware of mental health, we can hope for a future where mental health care is as mainstream and accepted as physical health care.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mental Health Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on mental health.

Every year world mental health day is observed on October 10. It was started as an annual activity by the world federation for mental health by deputy secretary-general of UNO at that time. Mental health resources differ significantly from one country to another. While the developed countries in the western world provide mental health programs for all age groups. Also, there are third world countries they struggle to find the basic needs of the families. Thus, it becomes prudent that we are asked to focus on mental health importance for one day. The mental health essay is an insight into the importance of mental health in everyone’s life. 

Mental Health

In the formidable years, this had no specific theme planned. The main aim was to promote and advocate the public on important issues. Also, in the first three years, one of the central activities done to help the day become special was the 2-hour telecast by the US information agency satellite system. 

Mental health is not just a concept that refers to an individual’s psychological and emotional well being. Rather it’s a state of psychological and emotional well being where an individual is able to use their cognitive and emotional capabilities, meet the ordinary demand and functions in the society. According to WHO, there is no single ‘official’ definition of mental health.

Thus, there are many factors like cultural differences, competing professional theories, and subjective assessments that affect how mental health is defined. Also, there are many experts that agree that mental illness and mental health are not antonyms. So, in other words, when the recognized mental disorder is absent, it is not necessarily a sign of mental health. 

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

One way to think about mental health is to look at how effectively and successfully does a person acts. So, there are factors such as feeling competent, capable, able to handle the normal stress levels, maintaining satisfying relationships and also leading an independent life. Also, this includes recovering from difficult situations and being able to bounce back.  

Important Benefits of Good Mental Health

Mental health is related to the personality as a whole of that person. Thus, the most important function of school and education is to safeguard the mental health of boys and girls. Physical fitness is not the only measure of good health alone. Rather it’s just a means of promoting mental as well as moral health of the child. The two main factors that affect the most are feeling of inferiority and insecurity. Thus, it affects the child the most. So, they lose self-initiative and confidence. This should be avoided and children should be constantly encouraged to believe in themselves.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Presentations made painless

• Get Premium

113 Mental Health Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Mental health is a crucial aspect of overall well-being, yet it is often overlooked or stigmatized in society. Writing about mental health can help raise awareness, reduce stigma, and promote understanding and empathy. If you are looking for inspiration for your next mental health essay, here are 113 topic ideas and examples to get you started.

• The impact of social media on mental health
• The stigma surrounding mental illness in society
• How to support a loved one with a mental health condition
• The benefits of therapy for mental health
• The relationship between physical and mental health
• The role of exercise in improving mental health
• Mental health in the workplace
• The connection between trauma and mental health
• The importance of self-care for mental health
• Mental health in the elderly population
• The impact of substance abuse on mental health
• The role of genetics in mental health conditions
• The relationship between sleep and mental health
• Mental health in the LGBTQ+ community
• The effects of chronic stress on mental health
• The link between nutrition and mental health
• Mental health in children and adolescents
• The impact of technology on mental health
• The benefits of mindfulness for mental health
• Mental health in marginalized communities
• The role of medication in treating mental health conditions
• Mental health in the military
• The connection between mental health and creativity
• The impact of climate change on mental health
• Mental health in the criminal justice system
• The effects of bullying on mental health
• The relationship between mental health and homelessness
• The role of music therapy in mental health treatment
• Mental health in the refugee population
• The impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health
• The benefits of art therapy for mental health
• The effects of social isolation on mental health
• The role of spirituality in mental health
• Mental health in the immigrant population
• The connection between mental health and physical illness
• The impact of peer pressure on mental health
• The benefits of journaling for mental health
• Mental health in the entertainment industry
• The relationship between perfectionism and mental health
• The effects of social comparison on mental health
• The role of pets in improving mental health
• Mental health in the age of technology
• The connection between mental health and climate change
• The impact of social media influencers on mental health
• The benefits of volunteering for mental health
• Mental health in the education system
• The relationship between mental health and addiction
• The effects of discrimination on mental health
• The role of exercise in preventing mental health conditions
• Mental health in the aging population
• The connection between mental health and chronic illness
• The impact of poverty on mental health
• The benefits of group therapy for mental health
• The relationship between mental health and personality traits
• The effects of childhood neglect on adult mental health
• The role of mindfulness in preventing mental health conditions
• The connection between mental health and physical health
• The impact of social media on body image and mental health
• The benefits of cognitive-behavioral therapy for mental health
• The relationship between mental health and financial stress
• The effects of trauma on mental health
• The relationship between mental health and social support

These are just a few ideas to get you started on your mental health essay. Remember, mental health is a complex and multifaceted topic, so feel free to explore different angles and perspectives in your writing. By shedding light on mental health issues, you can help promote understanding, empathy, and support for those who may be struggling.

Want to research companies faster?

Instantly access industry insights

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Leverage powerful AI research capabilities

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

© 2024 Pitchgrade

• College Prep
• Study Skills
• Career & Continuing Ed
• Online Learning
• Student Life
• Study Abroad
• Sponsorships
• Scholarships
• Student Group Shoutout
• Latest in Learning
• Success This Semester
• Educators Making an Impact
• Education News

How to Write a Mental Health in College Students Essay

We are a reader-supported education publication. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission to help us keep providing content.

Writing is a skill that takes time to build. Essays force you to practice research, critical thinking and communication skills – college is the perfect time for you to practice these. However, there’s only so much you can learn about writing through preparation. If you’ve been assigned an essay on mental health, you may not be sure where to begin. You might also wonder if you should choose mental health as a topic for a college paper. Here’s how to write a “mental health in college students” essay. 

• What Not to Do

If you’re trying to choose a topic for a college application essay, mental health is usually not the way to go. Your personal statement should show colleges why you’re the best candidate to attend their school. Because many students write about mental health , your essay may get lost in the crowd. In addition, your mental health journey is only a part of who you are. 

It can be difficult for many students to write about personal mental struggles without seeming overdramatic. Unless mental health struggles have shaped your whole life, it’s best to discuss other topics. If you mention mental health, stay brief and matter-of-fact. Don’t let it become the whole point of your essay. 

• Review the Instructions

If you’re writing this essay for a college course, start by looking over the assignment instructions. Don’t just listen to what your teacher says – look up the assignment on the syllabus to see if you can find a rubric or other relevant information. 

Highlight the important points to make sure you know what matters to your professor. The instructions are parameters you can operate in to create an essay you enjoy. Make sure you check word count, essay structure and review corrections on past essays. If you’re confused about something, don’t hesitate to ask your professor for clarification. 

• Do the Research 

Regardless of what class you’re writing for, this is the kind of topic that requires hard numbers. You don’t want to make general claims about rates of student anxiety or mental illness – to be credible, you need specifics. Be careful with your wording to avoid all-or-nothing statements. Everyone experiences mental health differently. 

Your professor may or may not allow you to pick the specific mental health topic you write about. However, you can ensure that your paper is well-researched and organized clearly. Before you start writing, create at least a basic outline showing the flow of ideas. This will make the writing phase much faster because you’ll always know what to say next. 

• Write It Out 

Writer’s block often stems from perfectionism. This paper won’t be perfect the first time, so don’t worry about writing it perfectly! Start with an interesting line that gets your reader’s attention and make sure you have a clear thesis statement. Taken by itself, this sentence should describe the contents of your entire paper. 

Build your paragraphs to the right word length by using specific examples. You should start each paragraph with a topic sentence that takes your reader one step in your paper’s argument. Then, describe a specific example that further explains this idea. You can find specific examples in your research or simply explain more about what you mean. 

• Edit Your Work

Editing is an important final step before you turn an essay in. It gives you an opportunity to look at your writing as a whole and ensure everything makes sense. If possible, you should set your first draft aside for a while before you reread it. This will help you see your work with fresh eyes so you can edit it. 

Editing involves strengthening your paper’s organization, rewriting specific sentences and checking for errors. You should make major edits first and then do a final read-through to catch punctuation and spelling mistakes. It can be helpful to read your paper out loud or have a friend look it over as well. 

One Key Takeaway for Writing a Mental Health in College Students Essay

Many students struggle with mental health while in school. Whatever topic you choose and however you organize your essay, make sure to write it with a sensitive tone. This topic is nuanced and shouldn’t be treated as a black-and-white issue. Write from an informed and compassionate point of view and offer your readers hope. 

Use this guide to write an essay on mental health in college students that astounds and delights your professor. Putting in the work will build research and communication skills you’ll use for years – whether you’re a psychology major, a premed student or studying the arts at school. 

Get the latest updates in learning, teaching and everything in between! Whether you're a student or an educator, we offer the inspiration you need to fuel your classroom experience.

Join Our Newsletter

Ginger Abbot is the writer, founder and Editor-in-Chief behind Classrooms. Through her work, she hopes to inspire students, grads, and educators on their own journey through learning. Find her professional portfolio here: https://classrooms.com/professional-portfolio-of-ginger-abbot/

Search Classrooms.com

Browse by category.

• Educating 98
• Experience 106
• Higher Learning Highlights 11
• Learning 238
• Student Funding 32

Latest News

Automating Administrative Tasks in Education Institutions

How to Apply for Grants for College

How to Get Local Business Sponsorship for School Events

5 Major Issues in Education Today

Does Withdrawing From a Class Look Bad?

What Companies Do Sponsorships for Student Groups?

Keep up with the latest in learning, more to learn.

Why Is English Such a Good Major?

How to Change Your Major: 5 Easy Steps

What Master’s Programs Can I Pursue With an English Degree?

A Guide to Understanding Total Credit Hours On a Transcript

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Best Family Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Sweepstakes
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

What Is Mental Health?

Hinterhaus Productions / Taxi / Getty Images

Characteristics

Poor self-esteem.

Mental health is a term used to describe emotional, psychological, and social well-being. The quality of a person's mental health is often measured by how adaptively they can cope with everyday stressors.

Mental health allows people to use their abilities, be productive, make decisions, and play an active role in their communities.

Having poor mental health is often confused with having a mental illness . But mental health actually refers to a person's state of mental well-being whether or not they have a psychiatric condition.

History of Mental Health

A paper in the World Psychiatry journal states that mental health officially emerged as its own field of study in 1946 during the International Health Conference.

It was during this conference that the World Health Organization (WHO) was founded. The WHO Constitutions stated that mental "well-being" is an integral part of overall health, even in the absence of psychiatric illness.

Before mental health, "mental hygiene" was a term used in the 19th and 20th centuries to refer to the impact that mental processes have on overall health.

A mental hygiene movement had formed in the United States in 1908. Its goal was to advocate for people who were "mentally sick," or people who had psychiatric conditions, in a more humane way as historically, people with mental illnesses were abused, neglected, and lacked adequate care.

Though stigma surrounding mental illness still exists, more and more people have realized the importance of receiving treatment—like psychotherapy —for maintenance of their mental well-being, regardless of whether they have a mental illness.

Additionally, an abundance of research has found that positive mental health is linked with improved quality of life, including better productivity, closer social connections, higher educational achievement, and improved relationships.

Mental health refers not only to emotional well-being but also to how people think and behave. There are a number of different factors that have been found to influence mental health.

Life Satisfaction

A person's ability to enjoy life is frequently used as an indicator of mental health and wellness. It is often defined as the degree to which a person enjoys the most important aspects of their life. 

Some factors that have been found to play an important role in life satisfaction include the absence of feeling ill, good relationships , a sense of belonging, being active in work and leisure, a sense of achievement and pride, positive self-perceptions , a sense of autonomy, and feelings of hope.

The ability to bounce back from adversity   has been referred to as resilience . People who are resilient also tend to have a positive view of their ability to cope with challenges and seek out social support when they need it. Those who are more resilient are better able to not only cope with stress but to thrive even in the face of it.

Social support is important for positive mental health. Loneliness is linked with both physical and mental health issues including cardiovascular disease, depression , memory problems, drug misuse , alcohol misuse , and altered brain function.

Decreases in social support caused by life changes such as going to college, facing social adversity, changing jobs, or getting divorced can have a negative impact on mental health.

Fortunately, research suggests that it is not necessarily the number of supportive connections you have that it is the most important but rather the quality of these relationships.  

Flexibility

Having rigid expectations can sometimes create added stress. Emotional flexibility may be just as important as cognitive flexibility. Mentally healthy people experience a range of emotions and allow themselves to express these feelings. Some people shut off certain feelings, finding them to be unacceptable.

Lack of psychological flexibility has been linked to some types of psychopathology , while research suggests that increased flexibility is connected to better life balance and improved resilience.

Challenges to Mental Health

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states that an estimated one in five U.S. adults experiences a mental health problem each year.  There are a number of risk factors that can increase the likelihood that a person may experience poor mental health.

Discrimination

Being treated unfairly due to personal characteristics such as age, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity is linked with increased anxiety and depression.

Exposure to Trauma

Trauma is linked with anxiety, depression, changes in mood (increased anger and irritability), feelings of hopelessness, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Family History of Mental Illness

Research suggests that a variety of mental illnesses run in families such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder , major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia .

Low income is linked with increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Low income may also prevent someone from accessing necessary mental health services.

Medical Illness

Illnesses, particularly those that are chronic and force a person to adjust their lifestyle, can create psychological distress (especially depression).

Poor Access to Health Services

Access to health services is linked to positive long-term health outcomes. However, when people can't get access to the health care they need, their physical and mental health may suffer as a result.

Having low self-esteem often means you don't believe you're worthy of being happy or having positive relationships. People with low self-esteem are at higher risk of developing substance use disorders, anxiety, and depression.

Poor Social Skills

Having poor social skills is linked with loneliness and increased stress levels, as well as worsened physical health.

Social Inequalities

Lacking access to goods and services in society based on personal characteristics like your age, gender, religion, race, disability, or another social category can increase the risk of depression.

Substance Use

Substance use is linked with high rates of anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

Impact of Mental Health

The state of a person's mental health has a significant impact on their quality of life. Taking care of your mental health allows you to contribute to your community, cope with stress, have quality relationships, and maintain physical health.

Mental health can help you to work toward your full potential in all aspects of your life. Improved mental health is also linked with better physical health. Research has found that positive mental health can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Poor mental health, on the other hand, is linked with issues like increased stress, sleep problems, smoking, and substance use . If your mental health is suffering, you might feel overwhelmed more easily, have trouble maintaining relationships, and experience low self-esteem.

How to Stay Mentally Healthy

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests that some of the ways that you can promote and maintain mental health include the below.  

Physical Exercise

Physical exercise can reduce stress and even improve the symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression. It reduces the body's levels of stress hormones and elevates levels of endorphins, which promote mood regulation and feelings of well-being.

Your workout doesn't need to be strenuous either. Try taking a 20-minute walk and you might just notice the effect it has on clearing and relaxing your mind.

Adequate Sleep  

Not getting enough sleep can worsen mental health and cause mental distress, especially in people with existing mental health conditions. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends getting at least seven hours per night.

Mental health conditions can make it extra challenging to fulfill your sleep requirements, but there are ways you can improve your sleeping habits.

Try adhering to a consistent sleep schedule (going to bed and waking up at the same times each night), limiting distractions like using your phone before bed, and making sure you get some exercise during the day. Be sure to consult a healthcare provider if your lack of sleep is causing mental distress.

Help Others 

One study found that helping behavior and other kinds of social interactions were linked with reduced stress and even longer lifespans.

Try volunteering in your community or even lending a hand to people in your everyday life. Performing small acts of kindness can make you and the recipient of your generosity feel a boost in mood and well-being.

Learn Coping Skills

Learning healthy coping mechanisms for managing stress can go a long way in improving mental health.

Some productive coping mechanisms include getting emotional support from loved ones, finding humor in your everyday life , and taking action to better your situation. It's all about finding what works best for you.

In cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a therapist works with patients to find the best coping skills for their unique circumstances.

Stay Connected to Others

Social interaction can reduce our stress levels, improve the symptoms of depression, and even benefit our physical health.

Research has found that social connection has positive impacts on health categories like cancer, weight management, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Having social interactions in a setting such as group therapy, for instance, might be especially helpful if you are coping with a specific mental health condition like post-traumatic stress disorder or an eating disorder .

Keep a Positive Outlook

There are many health benefits to using optimism and positive thinking in your everyday life.

One study found that participants with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) who practiced replacing thoughts of negative outcomes with thoughts of positive ones experienced less worry over time than participants who didn't imagine positive outcomes.

A Word From Verywell

There are many factors that influence mental health and overall well-being. Individual factors play an important part, but social, environmental, and financial circumstances can also either enhance or worsen mental health.

It is important to seek help if you are having difficulties. Talk to a doctor or mental health professional if you need help improving your mental health or addressing a psychological problem.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About mental health .

World Health Organization. Mental health .

Bertolote J. The roots of the concept of mental health .  World Psychiatry . 2008;7(2):113-116. doi:10.1002/j.2051-5545.2008.tb00172.x

Connell J, O'Cathain A, Brazier J. Measuring quality of life in mental health: Are we asking the right questions? .  Soc Sci Med . 2014;120:12–20. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.026

Walker FR, Pfingst K, Carnevali L, Sgoifo A, Nalivaiko E.  In the search for integrative biomarker of resilience to psychological stress .  Neurosci Biobehav Rev.  2017;74(Pt B):310-320. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.05.003

Hämmig O.  Health risks associated with social isolation in general and in young, middle and old age . PLoS One . 2019;14(7):e0219663. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0219663

Umberson D, Montez JK. Social relationships and health: A flashpoint for health policy .  J Health Soc Behav . 2010;51 Suppl(Suppl):S54–S66. doi:10.1177/0022146510383501

Kashdan TB, Rottenberg J. Psychological flexibility as a fundamental aspect of health .  Clin Psychol Rev . 2010;30(7):865–878. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.001

National Alliance on Mental Health. Mental health by the numbers .

World Health Organization. Risks to mental health: An overview of vulnerabilities and risk factors .

American Psychological Association. The impact of discrimination .

Kleber RJ. Trauma and public mental health: A focused review .  Front Psychiatry . 2019;10:451. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00451

National Institutes of Health. Common genetic factors found in 5 mental disorders .

Patel V, Burns JK, Dhingra M, Tarver L, Kohrt BA, Lund C. Income inequality and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association and a scoping review of mechanisms .  World Psychiatry. 2018;17(1):76-89. doi:10.1002/wps.20492

National Institute of Mental Health. Chronic illness and mental health: Recognizing and treating depression .

Coombs NC, Meriwether WE, Caringi J, Newcomer SR. Barriers to healthcare access among U.S. adults with mental health challenges: A population-based study .  SSM Popul Health . 2021;15:100847. doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100847

National Alliance on Mental Illness. Why self-esteem is important for mental health .

Segrin C. Indirect effects of social skills on health through stress and loneliness . Health Communication. 2017;34(1):118-124. doi:10.1080/10410236.2017.1384434

Yu, S. Uncovering the hidden impacts of inequality on mental health: A global study .  Transl Psychiatry.  2018;8:98. doi:10.1038/s41398-018-0148-0

Morris DH, Davis AK, Lauritsen KJ, et al. Substance use consequences, mental health problems, and readiness to change among Veterans seeking substance use treatment .  J Subst Abuse Treat . 2018;94:113-121. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2018.08.005

National Library of Medicine. Mental health .

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heart disease and mental health disorders .

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. What is mental health? .

Harvard Health Publishing. Exercising to relax .

Blackwelder A, Hoskins M, Huber L. Effect of inadequate sleep on frequent mental distress . Preventing Chronic Disease. 2021;18:200573. doi:10.5888/pcd18.200573

Poulin MJ, Brown SL, Dillard AJ, Smith DM. Giving to others and the association between stress and mortality .  Am J Public Health . 2013;103(9):1649-1655. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300876

Saxon L, Makhashvili N, Chikovani I, et al. Coping strategies and mental health outcomes of conflict-affected persons in the Republic of Georgia .  Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci . 2017;26(3):276-286. doi:10.1017/S2045796016000019

Martino J, Pegg J, Frates EP. The connection prescription: Using the power of social interactions and the deep desire for connectedness to empower health and wellness .  Am J Lifestyle Med . 2015;11(6):466-475. doi:10.1177/1559827615608788

Eagleson C, Hayes S, Mathews A, Perman G, Hirsch CR. The power of positive thinking: Pathological worry is reduced by thought replacement in generalized anxiety disorder .  Behav Res Ther . 2016;78:13-18. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2015.12.017

• Taylor, James, 1977.  Secret O' Life  Album: JT; Professional experience of 25 years as a practicing clinical psychologist.

By Leonard Holmes, PhD Leonard Holmes, PhD, is a pioneer of the online therapy field and a clinical psychologist specializing in chronic pain and anxiety.

Laura Harold is an editor and contributing writer for Verywell Family, Fit, and Mind.

Fact sheets

• Facts in pictures

Publications

• Questions and answers
• Tools and toolkits
• Endometriosis
• Excessive heat
• Mental disorders
• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• All countries
• Eastern Mediterranean
• South-East Asia
• Western Pacific
• Data by country
• Country presence 
• Country strengthening 
• Country cooperation strategies 
• News releases
• Feature stories
• Press conferences
• Commentaries
• Photo library
• Afghanistan
• Cholera 
• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
• Greater Horn of Africa
• Israel and occupied Palestinian territory
• Disease Outbreak News
• Situation reports
• Weekly Epidemiological Record
• Surveillance
• Health emergency appeal
• International Health Regulations
• Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee
• Classifications
• Data collections
• Global Health Estimates
• Mortality Database
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Health Inequality Monitor
• Global Progress
• World Health Statistics
• Partnerships
• Committees and advisory groups
• Collaborating centres
• Technical teams
• Organizational structure
• Initiatives
• General Programme of Work
• WHO Academy
• Investment in WHO
• WHO Foundation
• External audit
• Financial statements
• Internal audit and investigations 
• Programme Budget
• Results reports
• Governing bodies
• World Health Assembly
• Executive Board
• Member States Portal
• Fact sheets /

Mental health

• Affordable, effective and feasible strategies exist to promote, protect and restore mental health.
• The need for action on mental health is indisputable and urgent.
• Mental health has intrinsic and instrumental value and is integral to our well-being.
• Mental health is determined by a complex interplay of individual, social and structural stresses and vulnerabilities.

Concepts in mental health

Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in. Mental health is a basic human right. And it is crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development.

Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. It exists on a complex continuum, which is experienced differently from one person to the next, with varying degrees of difficulty and distress and potentially very different social and clinical outcomes.

Mental health conditions include mental disorders and psychosocial disabilities as well as other mental states associated with significant distress, impairment in functioning, or risk of self-harm. People with mental health conditions are more likely to experience lower levels of mental well-being, but this is not always or necessarily the case.

Determinants of mental health

Throughout our lives, multiple individual, social and structural determinants may combine to protect or undermine our mental health and shift our position on the mental health continuum.

Individual psychological and biological factors such as emotional skills, substance use and genetics can make people more vulnerable to mental health problems.

Exposure to unfavourable social, economic, geopolitical and environmental circumstances – including poverty, violence, inequality and environmental deprivation – also increases people’s risk of experiencing mental health conditions.

Risks can manifest themselves at all stages of life, but those that occur during developmentally sensitive periods, especially early childhood, are particularly detrimental. For example, harsh parenting and physical punishment is known to undermine child health and bullying is a leading risk factor for mental health conditions.

Protective factors similarly occur throughout our lives and serve to strengthen resilience. They include our individual social and emotional skills and attributes as well as positive social interactions, quality education, decent work, safe neighbourhoods and community cohesion, among others.

Mental health risks and protective factors can be found in society at different scales. Local threats heighten risk for individuals, families and communities. Global threats heighten risk for whole populations and include economic downturns, disease outbreaks, humanitarian emergencies and forced displacement and the growing climate crisis.

Each single risk and protective factor has only limited predictive strength. Most people do not develop a mental health condition despite exposure to a risk factor and many people with no known risk factor still develop a mental health condition. Nonetheless, the interacting determinants of mental health serve to enhance or undermine mental health.

Mental health promotion and prevention

Promotion and prevention interventions work by identifying the individual, social and structural determinants of mental health, and then intervening to reduce risks, build resilience and establish supportive environments for mental health. Interventions can be designed for individuals, specific groups or whole populations.

Reshaping the determinants of mental health often requires action beyond the health sector and so promotion and prevention programmes should involve the education, labour, justice, transport, environment, housing, and welfare sectors. The health sector can contribute significantly by embedding promotion and prevention efforts within health services; and by advocating, initiating and, where appropriate, facilitating multisectoral collaboration and coordination.

Suicide prevention is a global priority and included in the Sustainable Development Goals. Much progress can be achieved by limiting access to means, responsible media reporting, social and emotional learning for adolescents and early intervention. Banning highly hazardous pesticides is a particularly inexpensive and cost–effective intervention for reducing suicide rates.

Promoting child and adolescent mental health is another priority and can be achieved by policies and laws that promote and protect mental health, supporting caregivers to provide nurturing care, implementing school-based programmes and improving the quality of community and online environments. School-based social and emotional learning programmes are among the most effective promotion strategies for countries at all income levels.

Promoting and protecting mental health at work is a growing area of interest and can be supported through legislation and regulation, organizational strategies, manager training and interventions for workers.

Mental health care and treatment

In the context of national efforts to strengthen mental health, it is vital to not only protect and promote the mental well-being of all, but also to address the needs of people with mental health conditions.

This should be done through community-based mental health care, which is more accessible and acceptable than institutional care, helps prevent human rights violations and delivers better recovery outcomes for people with mental health conditions. Community-based mental health care should be provided through a network of interrelated services that comprise:

• mental health services that are integrated in general health care, typically in general hospitals and through task-sharing with non-specialist care providers in primary health care;
• community mental health services that may involve community mental health centers and teams, psychosocial rehabilitation, peer support services and supported living services; and
• services that deliver mental health care in social services and non-health settings, such as child protection, school health services, and prisons.

The vast care gap for common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety means countries must also find innovative ways to diversify and scale up care for these conditions, for example through non-specialist psychological counselling or digital self-help.

WHO response

All WHO Member States are committed to implementing the “Comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2030" , which aims to improve mental health by strengthening effective leadership and governance, providing comprehensive, integrated and responsive community-based care, implementing promotion and prevention strategies, and strengthening information systems, evidence and research. In 2020, WHO’s “Mental health atlas 2020” analysis of country performance against the action plan showed insufficient advances against the targets of the agreed action plan.

WHO’s “World mental health report: transforming mental health for all” calls on all countries to accelerate implementation of the action plan. It argues that all countries can achieve meaningful progress towards better mental health for their populations by focusing on three “paths to transformation”:

• deepen the value given to mental health by individuals, communities and governments; and matching that value with commitment, engagement and investment by all stakeholders, across all sectors;
• reshape the physical, social and economic characteristics of environments – in homes, schools, workplaces and the wider community – to better protect mental health and prevent mental health conditions; and
• strengthen mental health care so that the full spectrum of mental health needs is met through a community-based network of accessible, affordable and quality services and supports.

WHO gives particular emphasis to protecting and promoting human rights, empowering people with lived experience and ensuring a multisectoral and multistakeholder approach.

WHO continues to work nationally and internationally – including in humanitarian settings – to provide governments and partners with the strategic leadership, evidence, tools and technical support to strengthen a collective response to mental health and enable a transformation towards better mental health for all. 

• World mental health report: transforming mental health for all
• Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013─2030
• Mental health atlas 2020

More about mental health

• WHO's work on mental health
• Read more about mental health
• World Mental Health Day

16 Personal Essays About Mental Health Worth Reading

Here are some of the most moving and illuminating essays published on BuzzFeed about mental illness, wellness, and the way our minds work.

BuzzFeed Staff

1. My Best Friend Saved Me When I Attempted Suicide, But I Didn’t Save Her — Drusilla Moorhouse

"I was serious about killing myself. My best friend wasn’t — but she’s the one who’s dead."

2. Life Is What Happens While You’re Googling Symptoms Of Cancer — Ramona Emerson

"After a lifetime of hypochondria, I was finally diagnosed with my very own medical condition. And maybe, in a weird way, it’s made me less afraid to die."

3. How I Learned To Be OK With Feeling Sad — Mac McClelland

"It wasn’t easy, or cheap."

4. Who Gets To Be The “Good Schizophrenic”? — Esmé Weijun Wang

"When you’re labeled as crazy, the “right” kind of diagnosis could mean the difference between a productive life and a life sentence."

5. Why Do I Miss Being Bipolar? — Sasha Chapin

"The medication I take to treat my bipolar disorder works perfectly. Sometimes I wish it didn’t."

6. What My Best Friend And I Didn’t Learn About Loss — Zan Romanoff

"When my closest friend’s first baby was stillborn, we navigated through depression and grief together."

7. I Can’t Live Without Fear, But I Can Learn To Be OK With It — Arianna Rebolini

"I’ve become obsessively afraid that the people I love will die. Now I have to teach myself how to be OK with that."

8. What It’s Like Having PPD As A Black Woman — Tyrese Coleman

"It took me two years to even acknowledge I’d been depressed after the birth of my twin sons. I wonder how much it had to do with the way I had been taught to be strong."

9. Notes On An Eating Disorder — Larissa Pham

"I still tell my friends I am in recovery so they will hold me accountable."

10. What Comedy Taught Me About My Mental Illness — Kate Lindstedt

"I didn’t expect it, but stand-up comedy has given me the freedom to talk about depression and anxiety on my own terms."

11. The Night I Spoke Up About My #BlackSuicide — Terrell J. Starr

"My entire life was shaped by violence, so I wanted to end it violently. But I didn’t — thanks to overcoming the stigma surrounding African-Americans and depression, and to building a community on Twitter."

12. Knitting Myself Back Together — Alanna Okun

"The best way I’ve found to fight my anxiety is with a pair of knitting needles."

13. I Started Therapy So I Could Take Better Care Of Myself — Matt Ortile

"I’d known for a while that I needed to see a therapist. It wasn’t until I felt like I could do without help that I finally sought it."

14. I’m Mending My Broken Relationship With Food — Anita Badejo

"After a lifetime struggling with disordered eating, I’m still figuring out how to have a healthy relationship with my body and what I feed it."

15. I Found Love In A Hopeless Mess — Kate Conger

"Dehoarding my partner’s childhood home gave me a way to understand his mother, but I’m still not sure how to live with the habit he’s inherited."

16. When Taking Anxiety Medication Is A Revolutionary Act — Tracy Clayton

"I had to learn how to love myself enough to take care of myself. It wasn’t easy."

Topics in this article

• Mental Health

Mental Health in the United States Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Target Population

Summary of articles.

Mental health is a crucial problem that has to be addressed by the government to avert local communities from missing out on productive lives, healthy families, and strong interactive relationships. Practically any person from younger children to old adults may be suffering from a variety of mental health disorders due to the prevalence of unsafe behaviors and risky attitudes that might lead them to ultimate self-destruction. As Heun-Johnson et al. (2018) put it, suicide was almost in the top ten leading causes of death across the United States, which is a scary indicator that cannot and should not go unnoticed. Accordingly, mental health illnesses could also be associated with numerous physical states that could be associated with the inability to keep one’s mental health intact. In other words, cancer or diabetes could occur in a person even in the case of severe anxiety or stress, causing the body to respond in unpredictable ways.

Heun-Johnson et al. (2018) also contributed to the existing discussion by stating that the long-lasting effects of mental disorders may be hard to mitigate due to the extensive economic and psychosocial costs of interventions and consequences. Nevertheless, there is still hope that mental health disorders can be managed appropriately, as the growing body of evidence hints at the idea that the burden of mental issues could be reduced significantly. The existing project serves as an assessment of the Downers Grove, Illinois community and a thorough review of how previous experience could be utilized to develop a decent strategy to address the mental health of the target population and improve the quality of mental health care in the region. This project might become a pathway to a stronger Downers Grove community where individuals would not be afraid to share their thoughts on how to approach the issue and collaborate with care providers to reduce the stigma of mental health issues as well.

When picking the most appropriate target population for the current project, the author decided to consider numerous variables describing the populace, such as gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and geolocation. There is also a need to include specific social conditions in order to gain as much insight as possible into the given community. Some of these were interpersonal relations, intrafamilial and community dynamics, school conditions, and social backing. The information provided in the SAMHSA (2017) report disclosed the presence of numerous risks associated with mental health issues in Illinois youth. This is a hint at the fact that there are not enough resources currently available to the Downers Grove community to establish safe places for the target population to interact and contribute to overall change concerning the attitudes toward mental health issues across the State of Illinois.

On the other hand, that same report published by SAMHSA (2017) is the key to understanding that the biggest population currently affected by mental health illnesses is youth. It is a warning sign for the Downers Grove community, as at least one major depressive episode per annum was found in at least 20% of Illinois youth residents. The percentage seems to increase, as in 2014, that same community reached about 14% of youth residents being exposed to major depressive episodes. In addition, the problem is that less than half (approximately 38%) of Illinois youth received appropriate treatment for their mental health issues. This can be important as well because some of the respondents might be too afraid to ask for help due to certain circumstances such as the socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, or gender.

Ultimately, the target population can be described as male, female, or transgender respondents aged from 15 to 24 who are either suffering from major mental health issues or get exposed to certain episodes that damage their mental health time after time. One of the major trends included in SAMHSA (2017) report is the growing prevalence of psychotic disorders in youth. This problem slowly becomes prevalent because it increases the rates of stigmatization among peers and adults and also increases the time of hospital stays. Depending on the primary reason for hospitalization, care providers have to pick the right approach to their patients, which also means that local youth often faces the challenge of not being enrolled in follow-up care. The lack of appropriate prevention measures makes the Downers Grove youth community an especially vulnerable population that has to be protected.

The article written by Buchholz et al. (2015) discloses a number of important points that have to be considered when thinking about the best strategy related to youth coping with mental health issues. The researchers investigated the process of youth disclosing mental health issues to their parents or teachers and reviewed the possible social implications of such communication. Buchholz et al. (2015) found that mental health challenges are exceptionally hard to discuss when there is a risk of being misunderstood or ridiculed in front of others, so many young individuals tend to keep their anxiety and worries to themselves in order to protect themselves from unsafe outcomes. Nevertheless, further communication could be helpful when trying to reduce stigma and build effective relationships with the environment. The results of research conducted by Buchholz et al. (2015) could be utilized to manage possible disclosure decisions in the future and help local youth discuss their mental health issues more without obstruction.

Vohra et al. (2019) touched upon the question of how mental illnesses impact mortality and morbidity in youth. In order to introduce a decent prevention measure, they investigated the potential benefits and challenges associated with the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) strategy when utilized to address the prevalence of mental health issues in youth. Even though Vohra et al. (2019) could not achieve any specific results in terms of finding any relevant evidence regarding the effectiveness of MBSR in youth with mental health issues, their research allowed them to evaluate the efficacy of this strategy and see how psychological interventions could help when treating mental health issues in youth. The results of the study showed that MBSR could be an effective way for youth to cope with the potential stigma and improper emotional responses linked to the advent of mental health issues.

The article written by Mustanski et al. (2016) dwelled on the possibility of reducing the amount of cumulative victimization that LGBT youth representatives could be exposed to while also suffering from mental disorders. In order to complete their research, the investigators picked a sample including transgender, bisexual, lesbian, and gay youth and screened them for depression and anxiety in order to establish the potential level of stigma that these respondents could be facing on a daily basis. The findings published by Mustanski et al. (2016) showed that in addition to depressive episode, LGBT youth in Illinois was at an elevated risk for PTSD symptoms. Overall, the research concluded that there was an extreme amount of victimization affecting the LGBT youth living across the State of Illinois.

Buchholz, B., Aylward, S., McKenzie, S., & Corrigan, P. (2015). Should youth disclose their mental health challenges? Perspectives from students, parents, and school professionals. Journal of Public Mental Health , 14 (3), 159-168.

Heun-Johnson, H., Menchine, M., Goldman, D., & Seabury, S. (2018). The cost of mental illness: Illinois facts and figures [PDF]. USC Schaeffer. Web.

Mustanski, B., Andrews, R., & Puckett, J. A. (2016). The effects of cumulative victimization on mental health among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adolescents and young adults. American Journal of Public Health , 106 (3), 527-533.

SAMHSA. (2017). Illinois 2017 Mental Health National Outcome Measures (NOMS): SAMHSA Uniform Reporting System [PDF]. Web.

Vohra, S., Punja, S., Sibinga, E., Baydala, L., Wikman, E., Singhal, A.,… & Van Vliet, K. J. (2019). Mindfulness‐based stress reduction for mental health in youth: A cluster randomized controlled trial. Child and Adolescent Mental Health , 24 (1), 29-35.

• Healthcare Policy and Affordable Care Act: Four Key Issues
• Thailand Health Profile
• Michael Dell and Andy Grove: A Comparison
• Substance Use Disorder in Latino Population
• Akutagawa's "In a Grove" Story and Its Film Adaptation
• High Risk of Developing Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
• Application of Public Health Concepts for the Uninsured
• Sleep Deprivation and Learning at University
• Psychological Health and Social Environment Correlation
• Human Trafficking: Solution to Treat Survivors And A Public Health Issues
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, February 25). Mental Health in the United States. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mental-health-in-the-united-states/

"Mental Health in the United States." IvyPanda , 25 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/mental-health-in-the-united-states/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Mental Health in the United States'. 25 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Mental Health in the United States." February 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mental-health-in-the-united-states/.

1. IvyPanda . "Mental Health in the United States." February 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mental-health-in-the-united-states/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Mental Health in the United States." February 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mental-health-in-the-united-states/.

Mental Health - List of Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

This section is dedicated to argumentative and persuasive essays on mental health awareness in the United States. Mental illness and psychological problems are social issues that require a solution. A student can represent their point of view and perspective through an argumentative essay about mental health. What causes this problem and which is the solution would be perfect subjects for this type of paper.

It’s always a challenging task for students to reflect on illnesses, so to get a hint on how to start writing, you can look at the thesis statement and research paper samples on mental health on our website.

As often, start with a coherent introduction, outline, and title planning the structure of a paper. Consult research essay topics and argumentative topics if necessary.

Having studied all the samples, topics for ideas, and mental illness essay examples compose the main part, giving reasons for the mental diseases, ways to cure them, and arguments on why a mental illness should be considered a severe health problem.

Supply of Mental Health Insurance Coverage

Introduction Affordable medical care provisions offers the best services for mental health, this is after the introduction of the Affordable Care Act. The act requires that all individuals and employers subscribe to the insurance benefit plan. Purity in mental health acts like a rectifier of unfairness in the health insurance. However due to the increasing mental problems the total spending has increased, based on results from the health insurance companies (Schroeder, 2012). Another evidence has suggested and found it prudent […]

Mental Health Counseling

I am a mental health social worker at a mental health agency. My major role in the agency is to counsel the mentally ill clients. The counseling is as a result of the ideology that individuals with serious mental illness are examined to encounter a variety of barriers that are likely to impede their development in career. Competencies for the course The mental health counseling has different competencies that include having genuine interest in others. In this, one is required […]

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

Particularly most of the trained nurses theatres a vital role in mental health depending on field of specialty. Hence, in this level my main concept of concern will be based psychiatric nurses with which have chosen to pursue for my masters level. Regardless of the education, I am ascertained by the specialization and exposure as it gives skills to handle some of the technical responsibilities with most of the patients. This practitioners serve primarily in the care of mental health […]

We will write an essay sample crafted to your needs.

Social Media and Mental Health

Technology. Are we better off with it or without it? Can we keep up with the problems that it causes? These are the questions that are on everyone’s mind, especially those of us who deal with adolescents. Those of us who basically grew up last century (1950 – 1980) saw a lot of changes in technology. Those changes for the most part were ones that made daily life better. The television, computers, the internet, and different parts of the medical […]

Mental Health and Obesity

The obesity rate in America is at an all-time high, and it seems there is no end in sight. Obesity not only affects adults, but children as well. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines obesity as “Weight that is higher than what is considered as a healthy weight for a given height.” (CDC, 2016) Soccer not only improves physical health and lessens obesity, but also mental health. Working out at least once a day makes a person […]

Effects of Childhood Trauma on Children Development

Anyone can experience trauma at any time. The trauma can be caused by nature, human beings or by oneself. People endure much when they experience trauma and their ability to handle it can determine the level of the effect of the trauma and their long-term well-being. Reportedly, children are incredibly susceptible to trauma because their brain and coping skills are still developing. Thus, they often grapple with long terms effects of uncontrolled trauma. While childhood trauma may vary regarding pervasiveness […]

Mental Health Concerns for Children in Foster Care

Child maltreatment often results in removal from the parental home and increases the risk for behavioral health concerns.  The foster care experience can further increase this risk.  It is therefore wise to consider aspects of mental health for children in foster care including prevalence, risk, treatment, and policy recommendations. Keywords: child maltreatment, foster care, mental health, behavioral health, adverse childhood experiences Children who have experienced maltreatment are often placed in foster care.  Not only does child maltreatment increase the risk […]

Veterans Mental Health Care

Mental health disparities affect a large amount of population across the United States. However, nobody is more affected by unstable mental health than those members of the military and their families. With the increase in the need for security in different areas of the world, military soldiers are deployed to assist in securing and protecting those areas. Often, these soldiers see combat and are affected in their mental state. Not only are the soldiers affected by the deployment, their families […]

Effects of Childhood Trauma on Development and Adulthood

It is no secret that experiencing childhood trauma can have many negative effects on an individual’s life both in childhood and adulthood. Trauma can include events such as physical or sexual abuse, surviving a serious car accident, witnessing a violent event, and more. As trauma is defined in the dictionary as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience, it is no surprise that a disturbing event during childhood can have negative effects throughout an individual’s lifetime. However, this paper will dive […]

The Mental Health Stigma

Mental health holds no bias on who it targets, no matter your gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or country you reside in, you or someone you know can suffer from a mental health disorder. Regardless of how merciless mental disorders can be, there is still an overbearing stigma behind it all. Some say it doesn’t exist, others say you are “crazy” and most importantly it is not acceptable to talk about in schools or at work without fear of being […]

Mental Health Problem Solution

As many know, mental illness has affected many individuals for quite some time, affecting individuals from every age spectrum, and for some disorders, every recorded era. Many have developed different ways to treat their illness. Some help and some showed no progress. But why is it still so relevant, yet irrelevant, in our current society? Many know it exists, yet, they stay narrowly-minded fixated to only physiological health issues. Many theorize that it may be because of some medical field’s […]

Applied Behavior Analysis and its Effects on Autism

Abstract During my research i have found several studies that have been done to support the fact that Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) does in fact make a positive impact on children with Autism through discrete trials. It is based on the thought that when a child is rewarded for a positive behavior or correct social interaction the process will want to be repeated. Eventually one would phase out the reward. Dr Lovaas, who invented this method, has spent his career […]

How Cyberbullying Impact on Mental Health

Abstract Cyberbullying has been at an all time high since the invention of technology. With the use of cell phones and the internet it now easier then ever for adolescents to bully one another through text messages, social media, and through email. The internet it an extraordinary piece of technology but it can also be used to bully others. The majority of adolescents who bully through the internet or text messages don’t understand or know the dangers and how harmful […]

Soldier’s Mental Health in all Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel written by Erich Maria Remarque, and this book is based on the setting of World War 1. It explores the perspective of a German soldier named Paul Baumer going through his experience of being in the war and giving the readers the lens about the reality of war. The book also focuses on the soldiers’ feelings on the detachment from the civilian life they felt when returning home from the front. […]

The Impact of Friendships on a Woman’s Mental Health

Abstract Friendships are one of the most valuable relationships we have on this planet. I would almost say that we need it as much as we need food and water. Because God created us as relational creatures, we crave relationships with each other (Matthew 22:36-40 New International Version). We cannot survive without closeness to one another. In her article Roberto stated that “friendships are an important part of the informal social network of most older adults” (Roberto, 1997 p.1). There […]

The Negative Effects of Social Media on Mental Health

The rapid growth of social media began in the early 2000s and has not slowed down since. The most popular platforms include Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and Facebook which all allow people to share photos and videos of themselves, their family and friends, their everyday activities, express their own views and opinions and connect in so many other ways. It has given a voice to anyone with access to a computer or phone and also helps enhance learning opportunities. But social […]

Drug Abuse – Destructive Pattern

Drug abuse is the destructive pattern of using substances that leads to uncounted problems and diseases in the human body. It is a physical and psychological term which takes dependence on human activities. Drugs create bad effects on human life like anxiety, impaired social relations, depression, hopelessness, rejection etc. Impaired social relations and suicide are considered the worst consequences of addiction. The drugs have negative consequences on one's life. If the addicts were able to see the reality of their […]

Mental Health in Schools

Gun safety and mental health concerns have been at battle for many years and have currently escalated with the rise in school shootings across the country. Research about what schools have done to prevent such travesties are interesting to note. Are zero tolerance policies really effective? Or do these issues stem beyond the trigger? Student and teacher protestors can be seen outside state capital and national buildings urging lawmakers to make changes to the policies regarding state and national gun […]

Mental Health of Teens and the Catcher in the Rye

What people never understand is that depression isn't about the outside; it's about the inside, a quote asserted by Jasmine Warga. Associating with the black cloud of depression by concealing one's true feelings is the way many people were brought up by. Depression has a way of silently striking a person, similar to the way it overtook Holden Caulfield, in the book The Catcher in the Rye (genre: literary realism), written by J.D Salinger. Although Holden Caulfield was never clearly […]

Mental Health and Social Media

On June 14th, 2017, 12-year-old Mallory Grossman took her life away after being told to kill herself on Snapchat. A girl who was extremely involved, bright, and enthusiastic, was completely tormented by bullies online. It all started at school, but she could never escape the bullying once she got home and hopped on social media. They sent the 12-year-old mean messages through posts on Instagram and Snapchat, calling her “fat”, “a loser”, and even more cruel, proposing her to kill […]

The Dark Side of Adoption: Mental Health in Adoptees

To an outsider, the idea of adoption may seem as a very fruitful endeavor – the birth family gets spared of the financial and time-consuming burden that can come with having another child while the said adoptee gets placed into a more stable environment, with a family who can provide for them in ways the birth family cannot. While on paper this ideology might ring with a perfect tune, to those who have lived as adoptees know the tone to […]

The Brain of a Psycopath

Psychopathy refers to a complex condition that encompasses affective and interpersonal traits like lack of behavior control, guilt, remorse, lack of empathy promiscuity and glibness (Kiehl). A lot is known about psychopathy assessment however, little is known about the associated brain disturbances. It's a severe mental disorder and believed to affect about 1% of global population (Kiehl). This paper discusses three areas of psychopaths brain including amygdala, the prefrontal cortex and extended paralimbic structures. Psychopaths have minimal activity both in […]

Exercise Benefits for Physical and Mental Health

Everyone knows that exercise helps your physical health and can help you lose weight, but is that the most important part of exercise? The more research that is done on overall health we are finding that exercise doesn’t just help your physical health, but also can help release stress, help your immune system, improve mental health, and help impact the body in almost every way. There is more to it than just going out and running or lifting weights and […]

Importance of Mental Health

What is Mental Health? According to(mentalhealth.gov) “mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being, which affects how we think, feel, act, relate to others and handle stress and everyone is affected by it.” In life, you are faced with countless challenges and some being more extreme than the other. For example, dealing with the loss of a loved one now, although that's something very hard to deal with eventually people with bounce back and cope overtime but sadly some […]

Domestic Violence and Women’s Mental Health

Domestic violence occurs worldwide irrespective of culture, geographical and historical period. There are many factors that cause or lead to domestic violence and they are: Unmet role expectations. Unmet role expectations on the part of the wife or husband could lead to domestic violence in the family. If women fail to fulfil basic domestic responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning, managing household budgets and taking care of child, it often leads to domestic violence. Child care was a source of argument […]

Marijuana Mental Health Depression

Within the past five years there has been an increase in availability for marijuana and an increase in attitudes for marijuana. 20 states have legalized marijuana for medical use (NORML). 8 states have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use (NORML). Fifty-seven percent of American adults support the legalization, and 69% of American adults believe alcohol is more harmful to your health than marijuana (pewsearch.org). Due to the increased interest of marijuana, it has raised some questions especially concerning mental […]

The Unfamiliar Childhood Disorder – Reactive Attachment Disorder

The purpose of this paper is that a study was conducted for the diagnosis of Reactive attachment dsorder (RAD). This study was assessed with using the Relationships Problem Questionnaire (RPQ) and Reactive Attachment Disorder – Checklist (RAD-C). Chronbach's alpha of was used to test inter-rater, reliability and test-retest reliability (Thrall, Hall, Golden, & Sheaffer, 2009). There were fifty-three parents and caregivers who participated in the study. The first group were composed of children and adolescents who had former diagnoses of […]

Mental Health Screenings and the Effect on Gun Violence

Historically speaking, guns were used for hunting and for protection. In the late 1700's, the Revolutionary War began from Britain's pursuit to take away the colonists weaponry and oppress them. Lexington and Concord was the beginning of the fight for freedom. When Britain surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, the colonists had won their independence. The first constitution called the Articles of Confederation was ratified by all thirteen colonies in 1781 and was in place until 1789 when the U.S Constitution […]

Crime and Punishment: Women Mental Health in Prison

An unsafe living environment is a risk factor for many future crimes, as young women who run away from home to avoid abuse are more likely to get involved in drug distribution, prostitution and property crime (DeHart, 2008). Drug distribution, prostitution and property crime (such as robbery and theft) become their only source of fast and reliable income while substance abuse is an unfortunate and tragic by-product of the drug trade, as many women self-medicate in an attempt to cope […]

Schizophrenia: Mind and Mental Health

Psychological clarity is something that everyone strives for. A mind that is free from abundant clutter and jumbled thoughts that bring on stress and negativity. Everyone wants a mind that is able to recognize what is presented to it. A reliable psyche that is free from hallucinations and unwanted paranoia. Even though clarity can be achieved, certain illnesses can hinder individuals from reaching it. There are a multitude of disorders that affect the mind in more ways than one. The […]

Related topic

Additional example essays.

• Poor Nutrition and Its Effects on Learning
• Substance Abuse and Mental Illnesses
• PTSD in Veterans
• Moving to a New School
• Documentary Film "Three Identical Strangers" Analysis
• Alzheimer's Disease Still Alice
• Where Can We Find Hamlet in Our Lives
• The Thin Documentary Analysis: Eating Disorder
• The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food
• Drunk Driving
• A Research Paper on Alzheimer's Disease
• Oedipus is a Tragic Hero

How To Write An Essay On Mental Health

Introduction to mental health as an essay topic.

When writing an essay on mental health, it's essential to understand its complexity and significance in today's society. Mental health refers to the state of our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act, and it also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. In your introduction, define mental health and its importance in maintaining overall well-being. Clarify the specific aspect of mental health you plan to explore, whether it's discussing a particular mental disorder, examining the impact of mental health on various life aspects, or analyzing mental health policies. This introduction should provide a clear context for your essay and highlight its relevance.

Exploring the Various Aspects of Mental Health

Dedicate the main body of your essay to a thorough exploration of your chosen aspect of mental health. If focusing on a specific mental disorder, discuss its symptoms, causes, and treatment options. For a broader approach, you might analyze the factors that contribute to good or poor mental health, such as genetics, environment, lifestyle, and societal influences. Include current research and statistics to back up your points and provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic. Remember to handle the subject with sensitivity and empathy, especially when discussing conditions that may affect your readers or their loved ones.

Addressing Challenges and Misconceptions

Another critical aspect of your essay should be addressing the challenges and misconceptions surrounding mental health. Discuss the stigma often associated with mental illness and its impact on individuals seeking help or treatment. Examine the barriers to accessing mental health care, such as cost, lack of resources, or cultural attitudes. You can also explore common misconceptions about mental health and how they hinder societal understanding and support for those affected. This section is crucial in shedding light on the obstacles faced in the realm of mental health and advocating for a more informed and supportive approach.

Concluding with the Importance of Mental Health Awareness

In your conclusion, summarize the main points discussed in your essay and reflect on the significance of mental health awareness and support. Emphasize the need for open dialogue, education, and comprehensive care to promote mental well-being. Discuss how increasing mental health awareness can benefit individuals and society as a whole, leading to a more empathetic and healthier community. Your conclusion should not only tie together your analysis but also inspire readers to recognize the importance of mental health and advocate for better support and resources in their communities.

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

Writing College Essays about Mental Health in the Context of the Pandemic

Written by Vanessa Garrido on July 7th, 2022

• writing college essays ,
• mental health ,
• Weigh your pros and cons, which may look something like:
• Pro: You are providing the admission office and student services with a fuller picture of your needs and circumstances as they relate to your mental health. If a college doesn’t feel it can support you, the school is not going to be a great fit for you.
• Con: Reducing your mental health challenges down to a 650-word essay is not likely to capture the full complexity of your experience. Your essay will only reveal a sliver of this facet of your life and may be misread or misinterpreted.
• Ask yourself these questions if you’re considering writing about your mental health:
• Are you currently in the midst of your mental health challenges? The personal statement is intended to give you an opportunity to shine light on your growth. If you’re managing something as complex as depression or an eating disorder, it can be challenging to focus on the growth. Your college essay might not be the ideal place to process the relevant feelings and issues. You may want to explore a different topic and address your mental health through journaling, talk therapy, etc.
• What positive personal qualities do you want to highlight, and is this topic the best way to let these traits shine? Remember, this is the one story about you most admission officers will have access to. Is this the one story you want to share?
• What is your perspective? How might you share a story that will be a vibrant, authentic take on something that is affecting a large swath of the population?
• How have you changed? How has this experienced helped you become the person you are today? What do you want your readers to take away?
• Identify ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)
• Mental Health Resources for Adolescents and Young Adults from SAHM
• SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Helpline and Resources
• National Institute of Mental Health
• Mental Health First Aid training for teens

When is the right time to get started? How can you keep my child on track? Get all the answers to your most pressing questions.

amet, adipisicing elit sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt?

Follow these pre-application steps to help your student stay on track for admissions success., related resources.

Read | Posted on June 28th, 2024

Why NOT to use AI in Your College Essays

Read | Posted on November 17th, 2023

Are Optional College Essays Really Optional?

Read | Posted on November 6th, 2023

4 Tips for Writing the University of California Essays

Browse categories.

• Applying For Financial Aid
• Choosing The Right College
• College Admissions Consulting
• College Applications
• College Coach Mentionables: News & Events
• College Entrance Exams
• College Essays
• College Loan Advice
• College Visits
• Finding Scholarships
• How To Pay For College
• Meet a College Finance Expert
• Meet An Admissions Counselor
• Uncategorized

Interested?

Call 877-402-6224   or complete the form for information on getting your student started with one of our experts.

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Psychiatry & Mental Health — Mental Health

Argumentative Essays About Mental Health

Hook examples for mental health essays, the personal experience hook.

Share a personal anecdote or experience related to mental health. Describe your journey or the experiences of someone close to you, highlighting the challenges and the importance of mental well-being.

The Stigma-Breaking Hook

Begin by discussing the stigma surrounding mental health. Explain how society's perceptions can hinder individuals from seeking help and why it's crucial to challenge these stereotypes.

The Statistics and Prevalence Hook

Start with shocking statistics or data on the prevalence of mental health issues. Highlight the scale of the problem and its impact on individuals and communities.

The Historical Perspective Hook

Explore the historical treatment of mental health. Discuss how society's understanding of mental illnesses has evolved over time and the significance of these changes.

The Celebrities and Advocacy Hook

Highlight the advocacy efforts of well-known figures who have openly discussed their mental health struggles. Explain how their stories have helped reduce stigma and raise awareness.

The Impact on Daily Life Hook

Discuss how mental health issues affect everyday life, including relationships, work, and overall well-being. Share relatable scenarios to engage readers emotionally.

The Psychological Insights Hook

Introduce a psychological concept or theory related to mental health. Explain its relevance and how it can provide valuable insights into human behavior and emotions.

The Global Mental Health Hook

Examine mental health on a global scale. Discuss disparities in access to mental health care and the impact of cultural factors on mental well-being.

The Resilience and Recovery Hook

Share stories of individuals who have overcome mental health challenges and emphasize the themes of resilience, recovery, and hope. Showcase the importance of seeking help and support.

The Call to Action Hook

Conclude your essay with a compelling call to action. Encourage readers to prioritize their mental health, seek help when needed, and advocate for better mental health care and awareness.

Proposal Essay Examples on Mental Health

When delving into the realm of proposal essays , it's crucial to explore a diverse array of topics that capture the complexities of societal issues. In this context, mental health emerges as a critical area deserving attention and analysis. Below, you'll find a curated list of proposal essay topics centered around mental health, aiming to spark insightful discussions and potential solutions.

• The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health Awareness
• Improving Access to Mental Health Services in Rural Communities
• Addressing Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness in Schools
• Implementing Mental Health Education Programs in the Workplace
• Enhancing Support Systems for Veterans' Mental Health
• Exploring Alternative Therapies for Managing Anxiety and Depression
• Promoting Mental Wellness Among College Students
• Integrating Mental Health Screening into Primary Care Settings
• Combatting Loneliness and Isolation Among the Elderly
• Creating Support Networks for Families of Individuals with Mental Illness

Hispanic Culture and Mental Health

The universal refugee experience, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

How Music Affects Mental Health

Mental illness as a social problem: essay, the stigma of mental illness and forms of treatment, overview of biological predispositions and risk factors associated with depression, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

The Effects of Mental Health on Our Life

Teenage mental health: the increase in mental illnesses, how to overcome teenage depression, mental health awareness: importance and impact, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

The Importance of Understanding of Self-knowledge and The Subconscious Mind

Mental illness that affect millions of people, the topic of mental disorders in winnie the pooh, the importance of mental health awareness, mental illnesses: definition, kinds and its effects on society, the effects of the stigmatization of mental illness on the society, the theme of mental illness in "the woman in the window" written by a.j. finn, research of stigmatization of mental illness, the history of the treatment of mental illness in the middle ages, the cultural beliefs concerning mental illnesses in the south asian community, the effect of mental illnesses on art throughout different time periods, the perception of mental illnesses by senegalese people, supportive homes for people with serious mental illness, the problem of ignorance about mental illness, an examination of the six mental illnesses and its impact on human life, the special needs of the criminal justice on mental illness cases, serial killers with mental illnesses, the interrelation between mental illness and drug addiction, child abuse as a reason for childhood mental illness, bridging the gap between police officers and citizens with mental illnesses in canada.

A mental illness, referred to as a mental disorder or psychiatric disorder, is a condition characterized by disrupted behavioral or mental patterns that result in considerable distress or impairment to an individual's personal functioning.

Anxiety disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, sleep disorders, sexuality related disorders, other disorders.

Genetic and biological factors: Having a family history of mental illness can elevate the likelihood of experiencing such conditions. Additionally, specific genetic variations and imbalances in brain chemistry can contribute to an individual's susceptibility to mental health disorders. Environmental factors: Adverse childhood experiences, including trauma, abuse, neglect, or growing up in a stressful and unstable environment, increase the vulnerability to developing mental health issues. Psychological factors: Certain traits like high levels of neuroticism or low self-esteem can also contribute to an individual's susceptibility to mental health problems. Substance abuse: Alcohol and drug abuse is strongly associated with an increased risk of mental health disorders. Medical conditions: Certain medical conditions and chronic illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, or neurological disorders, can be linked to a heightened risk of mental illness.

Emotional disturbances: persistent sadness, anxiety, irritability, mood swings, or a general sense of emptiness. Cognitive impairments: mental health disorders can affect cognitive processes such as thinking, concentration, memory, and decision-making. Individuals may experience difficulties in focusing, problem-solving, or retaining information. Behavioral changes: withdrawal from social activities, changes in sleep patterns, appetite fluctuations, increased substance use, self-harm, or engaging in risky behaviors. Distorted perceptions: hallucinations (perceiving things that are not there) or delusions (strongly held beliefs that are not based on reality). Impairment in functioning: mental illness often interferes with an individual's ability to function effectively in their daily life. This can include challenges in personal relationships, occupational difficulties, impaired academic performance, or a decline in overall quality of life. Physical symptoms: headaches, digestive problems, fatigue, or unexplained aches and pains.

Psychotherapy: also referred to as talk therapy, involves collaborating with a trained therapist to explore thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Its purpose is to gain insights, develop coping skills, and foster positive transformations. Medication: certain mental disorders can be aided by medication, such as antidepressants, antianxiety drugs, or mood stabilizers. These medications assist in regulating brain chemistry and alleviating symptoms. Lifestyle changes: adopting a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, balanced nutrition, sufficient sleep, and effective stress management, can contribute to enhancing mental well-being. Support groups: becoming part of support groups or engaging in group therapy can provide a sense of community and empathy, allowing for the exchange of experiences and receiving support from peers. Alternative therapies: some individuals find alternative treatments like yoga, meditation, art therapy, or acupuncture beneficial. These practices can reduce stress, promote relaxation, and enhance emotional well-being. Hospitalization or intensive treatment programs: in severe cases or during mental health emergencies, hospitalization or intensive treatment programs may be required to ensure safety, stabilization, and access to specialized care.

The significance of the subject of mental illness cannot be overstated, as it holds profound relevance for individuals, families, and society at large. The far-reaching impact of mental health conditions on countless people globally necessitates attention and understanding. These conditions impose substantial suffering, impair daily functioning, and tragically, may even lead to loss of life. Recognizing and comprehending mental illness is imperative to foster awareness, combat societal stigma, and enable timely intervention. Prioritizing mental health enables the enhancement of overall well-being and life quality for those affected, while also driving the development of effective treatment methods, improved accessibility to resources, and the cultivation of supportive environments that nurture healing and resilience.

The topic of mental illness is immensely deserving of an essay due to its profound significance in today's society. Exploring mental illness provides an opportunity to raise awareness, challenge misconceptions, and promote understanding. By delving into this subject, one can shed light on the experiences of individuals facing mental health challenges, the impact on their lives, and the broader societal implications. It allows for an examination of the available resources, treatment approaches, and the need for improved mental healthcare systems. Addressing mental illness in an essay contributes to reducing stigma, fostering empathy, and inspiring action to create a more compassionate and supportive environment for those affected.

1. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. 2. World Health Organization. (2019). Mental disorders. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders 3. Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 617-627. 4. National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Mental health information. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/index.shtml 5. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2019). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 6. Greenberg, G. (2013). The book of woe: The DSM and the unmaking of psychiatry. New York, NY: Penguin Books. 7. Corrigan, P. W., Druss, B. G., & Perlick, D. A. (2014). The impact of mental illness stigma on seeking and participating in mental health care. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 15(2), 37-70. 8. Pincus, H. A., Davis, W. W., & McQueen, L. E. (2017). "Subthreshold" mental disorders: A review and synthesis of studies on minor depression and other "brand names." British Journal of Psychiatry, 190(4), 288-294. 9. Sartorius, N. (2017). Stigma and mental health. Lancet Psychiatry, 4(10), 777-778. 10. Patel, V., Saxena, S., Lund, C., Thornicroft, G., Baingana, F., Bolton, P., ... & Unützer, J. (2018). The Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development. The Lancet, 392(10157), 1553-1598.

Relevant topics

• Eating Disorders
• Drug Addiction

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Bibliography

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

About Mental Health

What is mental health?

Mental health includes 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 healthy choices. 1 Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Why is mental health important for overall health?

Mental and physical health are equally important components of overall health.  For example, depression increases the risk for many types of physical health problems, particularly long-lasting conditions like diabetes , heart disease , and stroke. Similarly, the presence of chronic conditions can increase the risk for mental illness. 2

Can your mental health change over time?

Yes, it’s important to remember that a person’s mental health can change over time, depending on many factors.  When the demands placed on a person exceed their resources and coping abilities, their mental health could be impacted. For example, if someone is working long hours, caring for a relative, or experiencing economic hardship, they may experience poor mental health.

How common are mental illnesses?

Mental illnesses are among the most common health conditions in the United States.

• More than 1 in 5 US adults live with a mental illness.
• Over 1 in 5 youth (ages 13-18) either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness. 5
• About 1 in 25 U.S. adults lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. 6

What causes mental illness?

There is no single cause for mental illness. A number of factors can contribute to risk for mental illness, such as

• Adverse Childhood Experiences , such as trauma or a history of abuse (for example, child abuse, sexual assault, witnessing violence, etc.)
• Experiences related to other ongoing (chronic) medical conditions, such as a traumatic brain injury , cancer, or diabetes
• Biological factors or chemical imbalances in the brain
• Use of alcohol or drugs
• Having feelings of loneliness or isolation

People can experience different types of mental illnesses or disorders, and they can often occur at the same time. Mental illnesses can occur over a short period of time or be episodic. This means that the mental illness comes and goes with discrete beginnings and ends. Mental illness can also be ongoing or long-lasting.

There are more than 200 types of mental illness. Some of the main types of mental illness and disorders are listed here .

• Strengthening Mental Health Promotion . Fact sheet no. 220. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
• Chronic Illness & Mental Health . Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health. 2015.
• Kessler RC, Angermeyer M, Anthony JC, et al. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of mental disorders in the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative. World Psychiatry. 2007;6(3):168-176.
• Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2016.
• Merikangas KR, He J, Burstein M, et al. Lifetime Prevalence of Mental Disorders in US Adolescents: Results from the National Comorbidity Study-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2010;49(10):980-989. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2010.05.017.
• Health & Education Statistics . Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Mental Health. National Institutes of Health. 2016.
• Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of Twelve-month DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of general psychiatry. 2005;62(6):617-627. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.617.Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2016). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD.
• Rui P, Hing E, Okeyode T.  National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2014 State and National Summary Tables. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Health Statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2014.
• Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) . Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2015.
• Insel, T.R. Assessing the Economic Costs of Serious Mental Illness. Am J Psychiatry. 2008 Jun;165(6):663-5. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.08030366.
• HCUP Facts and Figures: Statistics on Hospital-based Care in the United States, 2009. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 2009.
• Reeves, WC et al. CDC Report: Mental Illness Surveillance Among Adults in the United States. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2011;60(03);1-32.
• Parks, J., et al. Morbidity and Mortality in People with Serious Mental Illness. Alexandria, VA: National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Council. 2006.

Mental health

Mental health is a state of mind characterized by emotional well-being, good behavioral adjustment, relative freedom from anxiety and disabling symptoms, and a capacity to establish constructive relationships and cope with the ordinary demands and stresses of life.

Adapted from APA Dictionary of Psychology

Resources from APA

Mental health in a warming world

Kim Meidenbauer, PhD, and Amruta Nori-Sarma, PhD, discuss how heat affects people’s mental health

How heat affects the mind

The impact of extreme heat on behavior and cognition, and policy and infrastructure changes needed to protect mental health

Understanding the mind of a serial killer

Louis Schlesinger, PhD, talks about what we really know about serial killers’ motivations and their methods.

Broadening the scope of psychology

Understanding societal structures and policies is key to improving community well-being

More resources about mental health

What APA is doing

Mental health parity

APA Services works to ensure that health plans provide equitable coverage for mental and behavioral health services.

Personality Disorders and Pathology

An ICD–10–CM Casebook and Workbook for Students

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy

APA Handbook of Psychopathology

Going Global

Magination Press children’s books

Booma Booma Boom

Qué Hacer Cuando te Preocupas Demasiado

You Can't Please Everyone!

Find Your Fierce

Moody Moody Cars

Journal special issues

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Transpersonal Psychology

Psychology and Virtual Reality

Advances in Psychiatric Rehabilitation From the Study of Metacognition

Promoting Health and Well-Being in Forcibly Displaced Asian Populations

Psychology and the Opioid Epidemic

APA journals

Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal

Thinking Philosophically Can Benefit Mental Health

Reflecting on the deeper side of life bolsters mental health..

Updated August 6, 2024 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

• Philosophy and mental health intersect through practical wisdom and reflection.
• Wisdom aids emotional regulation, empathy, and resilience in life's challenges.
• Counseling applies philosophical concepts like Stoicism for stress management.

The Intersection of Philosophy and Mental Health

At first glance, philosophy and mental health might seem like unrelated fields. Philosophy often examines abstract, theoretical, and logical questions, constructing arguments that seem detached from the day-to-day concerns of most people, while the field of mental health and counseling deals with subjectivity, the nitty-gritty of everyday life. In particular, counseling is concerned with the implementation of evidence-based treatments that have been customized to the actual needs of an individual. In that way, counseling is intensely pragmatic and practical. Yet, the relationship between these two fields is more intertwined than one might initially think. What I'm proposing is that philosophy can actually benefit your mental health and promoting well-being.

From my perspective as a counselor, many of the insights that foster mental well-being in clients are akin to pieces of wisdom . The term "philosophy" itself originates from the Greek words for "love of wisdom." Wisdom serves as a bridge between philosophical reflection and mental health, providing practical guidance that can be transformative.

The Role of Wisdom in Mental Health

Wisdom is not merely an abstract concept but a practical, experience-based understanding of life. It involves a deep comprehension of life's complexities, an ability to manage and regulate emotions, and a capacity for empathy and perspective-taking . Recent research suggests that wisdom is closely linked to mental health, as it helps individuals navigate life's challenges more effectively (Jeste & Lee, 2019).

Jeste and Lee (2019) go on to argue that philosophical wisdom—derived from practical, lived experiences—can play a crucial role in enhancing mental health. This wisdom, which involves understanding life's complexities, managing emotions, and empathizing with others, helps individuals navigate challenges and find meaning. They highlight the use of philosophical ideas in therapeutic practices, such as existential and Stoic philosophy, to aid clients in understanding and addressing their mental health concerns. Reflective practices and narrative therapy are also discussed as methods that incorporate philosophical concepts to promote personal growth and emotional well-being.

This is my personal perspective, but I see counseling as a very practical form of philosophy. One branch of philosophy is concerned with “the good life.” Well, so is counseling, but with an extra serving of subjectivity. Counseling is concerned with “what is the good life” for this person, in their culture, in their context and situation, with their life goals in mind.

According to Jeste and Lee (2019), wisdom is defined as a complex human trait characterized by a deep understanding of life, including knowledge of what is important, emotional regulation , empathy, compassion, reflection, decisiveness, and tolerance for divergent values. This definition emphasizes that wisdom involves both cognitive and emotional elements, making it a holistic quality that enables individuals to deal with life's challenges effectively. Wisdom also encompasses practical application, allowing for better decision-making and enhanced well-being.

Sense-Making

A practical, real-world form of philosophy emerges from the experiences of life, particularly from suffering and adversity. This type of philosophy isn't about detached contemplation but about deriving meaningful insights through lived experiences. It aligns with the concept of "grounded theory" in psychology, which posits that knowledge and understanding arise from the reality of individuals' lived experiences (Charmaz, 2014).

Much of what counseling does, when working with someone who has experienced trauma and suffering, is helping them make sense of their experience. Sense-making is a crucial process for individuals recovering from hardships, as it involves reflecting on and interpreting challenging experiences to integrate them into one's personal narrative. This process helps create a coherent story that connects past events with current identity , fostering a greater sense of purpose and self-awareness. Positive reframing, such as focusing on gratitude , allows individuals to acknowledge the growth and resilience gained from their struggles, rather than merely dwelling on the difficulties. This approach enhances resilience, providing coping mechanisms like positive self-talk , social support, and self-care, which better equip individuals to handle future challenges. Ultimately, sense-making transforms adversity into opportunities for growth and improved well-being ​​.

Practical Philosophy and Counseling

In counseling, philosophical ideas often manifest as guiding principles or frameworks that help clients make sense of their experiences. For instance, existential philosophy, with its focus on meaning, choice, and responsibility, can offer valuable perspectives in therapy. Clients grappling with existential concerns—such as the search for meaning or the fear of mortality—can find solace and clarity in existentialist thought (Yalom, 1980).

Similarly, Stoic philosophy, with its emphasis on resilience and control, provides practical tools for managing emotions and stress . The Stoic idea of focusing on what is within one's control and accepting what is not can be particularly empowering for individuals facing anxiety and uncertainty. This approach aligns with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques that encourage cognitive restructuring to manage negative thoughts (Ellis, 2004).

Reflecting on Experience

The process of reflecting on one's experiences, a key aspect of practical philosophy, is crucial for mental health. Reflective practices enable individuals to gain insight into their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, facilitating personal growth and emotional regulation. This reflective capacity is linked to mindfulness practices, which have been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression (Kabat-Zinn, 2003).

Furthermore, narrative therapy, which involves exploring and re-authoring personal stories, draws on philosophical ideas about identity and meaning. By examining the narratives they live by, clients can reshape their understanding of themselves and their circumstances, leading to positive changes in their mental health (White & Epston, 1990).

In summary, philosophy and mental health are deeply interconnected. The practical wisdom derived from philosophical reflection offers valuable insights and tools for navigating life's challenges. By integrating philosophical concepts into counseling, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their experiences, fostering greater mental well-being. As research continues to explore the intersections of these fields, the benefits of philosophy for mental health are becoming increasingly evident.

Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing Grounded Theory . SAGE Publications.

Ellis, A. (2004). Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: It Works for Me—It Can Work for You . Prometheus Books.

Jeste, D. V., & Lee, E. E. (2019). The emerging empirical science of wisdom: Definition, measurement, neurobiology, longevity, and interventions. Harvard Review of Psychiatry , 27 (3), 127–140.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future . Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156.

White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends . Norton & Company.

Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy . Basic Books.

Dan Bates, Ph.D., is a clinical mental health counselor licensed in the state of Washington and certified nationally.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• International
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

Sticking up for yourself is no easy task. But there are concrete skills you can use to hone your assertiveness and advocate for yourself.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

• Share full article

Advertisement

The Morning

Americans’ struggle with mental health.

We explore why rates of anxiety and depression are higher than they were before the pandemic.

By Ellen Barry

I cover mental health.

It is no mystery why rates of anxiety and depression in the United States climbed in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. But then life began a slow return to normal. Why haven’t rates of distress returned to normal, too?

Self-reported anxiety and depression have declined from the peak they reached in November 2020, when 42.6 percent of adults said they had symptoms, according to the Household Pulse Survey, a Census Bureau tool that measures well-being. Since then, that figure has declined to 20.7 percent. That’s still double the 11 percent of Americans who said the same thing before the pandemic.

In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain why. Researchers say a big reason for this stubbornly elevated distress is young people, whose low mood was not linked to the pandemic.

A youth epidemic

The share of young adults reporting anxiety and depression had been rising for about a decade before Covid struck. That continued throughout the pandemic — and did not ease as quickly when vaccines became available.

This is likely because their symptoms were tied to problems other than the virus, like economic precarity, the housing crisis, social isolation and political turmoil, said Emma Adam, a psychologist at Northwestern. “There’s so many things affecting adolescents and young adults that are about uncertainty with their future,” Adam said. “And that hasn’t changed.”

Age, of course, tracks with income. Adam’s team found that people between the ages of 18 and 39 were half as likely to live in their own home as their counterparts over 40. That means they were especially vulnerable to inflation, rent increases and job loss — just as they faced big decisions like whether to have children or own a home.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

Why are religious teens happier than their secular peers?

Here’s what we can learn from the way faith communities stay rooted in the real world — and diminish the harms of the virtual one..

S eth Kaplan, an author and lecturer, spent more than two decades traveling the world. He lived or worked in 75 countries before settling down in a small Orthodox Jewish community about an hour north of Washington, D.C. Although he was raised Jewish, Kaplan told me the faith wasn’t a central part of his identity while growing up. In fact, it isn’t even the reason he now lives in an Orthodox community. “I moved here for the lifestyle,” he says.

I laughed. I’ve always been resistant to the idea of living a religious life. It feels constraining, with too many rigid and seemingly arbitrary rules. The idea that someone would move to an Orthodox community for the lifestyle sounded, well, crazy. But as Kaplan explained his story in more detail, it began to make more sense — and it resonated with my research.

I’ve spent much of the last few years as the lead researcher for Jonathan Haidt’s recently published book “The Anxious Generation,” which explains how we’ve inadvertently deprived Gen Z (those born after 1995) of real-world community, independence, and free play, and replaced those things with smartphones and social media, contributing to a precipitous decline in their mental health. Kaplan isn’t part of the generation we’re most concerned about, but as sociologist Robert Putnam observed in his 2001 book “Bowling Alone,” the disintegration of communal life in the United States began in the 1960s as fewer adults attended religious services and civic engagement fell. The introduction of the smartphone and digital life has only exacerbated these existing problems: loneliness, lack of civic engagement, and the erosion of local communities.

But this disintegration of community did not happen as significantly for one subset of Americans: Religious conservatives continued attending faith services, and those adults and teens continued to engage in civic activities like volunteering and youth groups at higher rates than others. It seems that kids from conservative religious communities may have been less likely to lose their community- and free-play-based childhoods. This is the kind of childhood Kaplan wanted for his kids.

Kemp Mill, Md., where Kaplan lives, is not exclusively religious or Jewish, but its 1,200 Orthodox Jewish families (which are politically diverse) are especially focused on community building. The community is small enough for everyone to know one another but big enough to make sure all the amenities are there: schools, restaurants, supermarkets, synagogues, and community centers. “People are constantly doing things for each other: delivering groceries to the elderly, mentoring youth, joining park cleanups,” he says. “I wouldn’t call it volunteering. . . . It’s just what’s expected.”

Advertisement

His three kids live near their classmates, and there’s no shortage of neighborhood-based camps and after-school activities. He says because the neighbors trust one another, the kids go freely between houses, to the parks, or to the pizza parlor without adult supervision. The children are also expected to be contributing members of the community from an early age, from babysitting to tutoring and becoming camp counselors. “Everyone has a role.”

Kaplan’s description of his kids’ lives in their religious community strongly reflected what Haidt and I found likely to help solve the nation’s youth mental health crisis: real-world community.

Kaplan believes, more than anyone I have ever met, in the power of strong, tight-knit communities to solve our personal and social ills. In fact, Kaplan has become one of the world’s leading experts on what makes some societies and communities thrive and others not. He has come to believe that many of the crises we face today — the youth mental health crisis, the loneliness epidemic, the drug overdose crisis, and political polarization — can be traced back to the deterioration of local communities.

The more I have talked with him and members of other religious communities, and the more I have dug into the research, the more I think he might be onto something.

Religion protects young people’s mental health

That today’s youths are experiencing a mental health crisis is now common knowledge. Young people are struggling with higher rates of mental illness than any previous generation on record. Concerned parents, educators, politicians, and others are desperately seeking explanations and solutions.

Teens without a religious affiliation across the political spectrum started reporting that they felt lonely, worthless, anxious, and depressed at much higher rates starting in the early 2010s. However, religious teens, especially those who report being more conservative, did not.

How did this one group of young people manage to mostly buck the trend?

At first, I thought the differences could be a result of self-reporting. Perhaps religious conservatives were as distressed as others but less likely to admit it. However, the data consistently show that this is unlikely to be the explanation. Social scientists have shown — for as long as we have been collecting data — that conservatives have better mental health than liberals, and religious people have better mental health than their secular peers. People who are religious have lower rates of depression, anxiety, drug addiction , and suicide (for both men and women ). We see this around the world: Nations where a larger percentage of people identify as religious tend to have lower suicide rates. This protective effect appears to be even stronger for those who are both conservative and religious.

Haidt and I took a look at how these trends apply to Gen Z. We used data from Monitoring the Future , a yearly survey conducted among thousands of American high school students since 1977. The survey asks students how much they agree with these statements: “I feel I do not have much to be proud of”; “Sometimes I think I am no good at all”; “I feel that I can’t do anything right”; and “I feel that my life is not very useful.”

Before 2010, teens agreed with those statements at similar rates across political and religious divides, with religious conservatives slightly less likely to agree. But after 2010, the gap between religious conservatives and everyone else grew rapidly. By 2019, it became clear that secular liberals were the most likely to agree with these self-disparaging statements.

In “ The Anxious Generation ” and our related posts on our Substack newsletter, After Babel, Haidt and I argue that much of the decline in mental health among adolescents since 2010 can be tied to the rapid transformation of childhood between 2010 and 2015. Adolescents traded their flip phones for smartphones loaded with social media apps, and their play-based childhoods became disembodied and placeless phone-based childhoods. The new phone-based childhood pushes out most of teens’ real-world play and social interaction and brings young people a variety of harms , from loneliness and anxiety to attention fragmentation and sleep deprivation. The transformation of childhood has made many kids more anxious, more depressed, and more likely to self-harm, especially adolescent girls .

So, what are religious conservative teens doing differently?

What religious communities are getting right

The secret is likely not any particular belief system itself but the way organized religion and shared beliefs bind communities together.

As Haidt describes in his 2012 book “The Righteous Mind,” conservatives typically value loyalty, authority, and sanctity, which tend to foster openness to religion and its traditions and structure. In contrast, liberals generally prioritize individual rights and freedoms, which can lead to a rejection of organized religion.

We see this in the data: The percentage of liberal teens who report that religion is important in their lives and who regularly attend religious services has dropped from 40 percent in 1979 to 14 percent in 2019. In comparison, those numbers have changed much less for conservative teens, from 50 percent in 1979 to 42 percent in 2019.

These value differences often play out in the home. I’m making some broad generalizations here, but research shows that conservative (and religious) families tend to emphasize structure and duty, providing children with clear boundaries and roles to play in the home and community. Liberal (and secular) families, however, tend to emphasize personal expression and exploration, encouraging children to discover diverse aspects of their identities. Each approach has strengths — secular liberals foster more self-expression, while religious conservatives offer more structure . Of course, either approach can go too far, leading to challenges like rigid and authoritarian parenting in conservative families or boundary-less parenting in liberal families.

These dynamics can play out with technology, too. Liberal and secular parents tend to be less restrictive about technology use than conservative and religious parents, and liberal and secular teens report spending more time on social media. At the same time, conservative teens report spending more time engaging in their local community — attending religious services, working, spending more time with trusted adults, and spending more time with their friends in person.

The difference in how teens spend their time matters. Experts have extensively documented the mental health and social benefits of strong real-world communities and the unique contribution of religion in binding such communities together (partly due to the collective rituals that are key components of religious life). As Kaplan explained to me, based on his own research, real-world communities help foster social trust, social capital, and social support. Any developmental psychology textbook will tell you that healthy child development requires these features.

Although most of us understand that community is beneficial, many have not experienced the kinds of tight-knit local communities that Kaplan describes. We often mistake social networks for communities. As he noted in an email to me, “An understanding of what community is has been lost to . . . people who have never experienced it. . . . Until very recently, human communities were always rooted in specific places — places imbued with meaning, places with history and a shared identity . Such communities may have constrained their members in various ways — limiting, as [author Alan] Ehrenhalt writes in ‘The Lost City,’ ‘privacy, individuality, and choice’ — but they provided ‘some anchors of stability to help us through times of . . . unsettling change.’”

Tight-knit communities provide a stable network of peers and adults (not just parents!) whom children can trust, collaborate with, and learn skills from. They also offer connections with supportive, trusted adults who act as guardians and mentors and can help a child through hard times during adolescence. The community features that help children thrive are much more difficult to build into the virtual world.

This can help us understand — beyond differences in parenting — why most secular teens across the political spectrum raced into the virtual world more quickly and stayed online longer than their religious conservative peers: They were searching for a community many felt was missing from their lives. Religious conservative teens, on the other hand, were more likely to be rooted in their real-world communities and less likely to move their lives so deeply into the virtual world, and thus less likely to have been harmed by a phone-based childhood.

This is the key point: Virtual networks are not sufficient replacements for real-world communities.

What about kids who don’t have a real-world community?

One common objection to the claim that real-world communities are better than virtual networks is that social media platforms offer marginalized youth many social benefits — they can find the like-minded peers they don’t have in their real-world communities.

Of course, that’s a good thing. This is a major advantage of the internet and, sometimes, of social media, too. However, kids from marginalized groups are also far more likely to experience the risks of the phone-based childhood — from cyberbullying and predation from peers and strangers to being fed self-harm content by the platforms’ algorithms. Until some guardrails are put in place, I worry that this solution may, at times, be worse than the problem it is trying to solve. These online networks are often unstable, transient, and full of unknown people — and they are embedded within platforms designed to fuel outrage and keep their users online much longer than they intend. Giving our most vulnerable teens unfettered access to an unregulated world with no guardrails or support does not outweigh the meager social benefits. We can do better than this.

When Kaplan told me he moved into an Orthodox Jewish community “for the lifestyle,” he helped me see that there is more to religious life than faith itself. He showed me that even if we’re lucky enough not to suffer from economic poverty, we often suffer from social poverty, with frail and shallow social ties to friends, family, and the local community.

Now, I personally don’t want to live in a highly religious community, and I don’t expect to move into one “for the lifestyle.” At the same time, I want to give my kids — when I have them — the kind of community that Kaplan is able to provide his children.

This is the challenge of our time: How do we balance the desire to give kids individual freedom and new digital technologies with our desire to give them a stable, tight-knit community? It’s a difficult question to answer, though many organizations , like Outward Bound, Block Party USA, and the Girl Scouts, are creatively trying to do just this . My hope is that we can learn from the communities that have done this best and work together to end phone-based childhood, restore play-based childhood, and give all kids more deeply rooted, tight-knit, and loving communities in the real world.

Zach Rausch is an associate research scientist at New York University, the lead researcher for the book “The Anxious Generation,” and managing editor of the Substack newsletter After Babel.

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Published: 08 August 2024

Country and culture, mental health in context

Nature Mental Health volume  2 ,  pages 877–878 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

157 Accesses

1 Altmetric

Metrics details

Much of psychiatry, psychology and mental health broadly has been dependent on the notion that people are predominantly similar or simply by neglecting diversity. Yet there are powerful influences related to one’s national or country identity, race and ethnicity, community and cultural heritage that speak to a far more complex and dynamic reality. Reflecting on these factors in the context of research is not only a challenge but a profound opportunity to spur future work and to improve care and treatment for individuals.

In the wake of US President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, the internet has come alive with news stories, social media posts and humor generated by this monumental decision. But one meme has stood out, featuring the presumptive Democratic candidate, Vice-President Kamala Harris. She recounts one of her mother’s favorite turns of phrase to describe young people’s tendency to neglect the influence of previous generations, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”

Although Harris was referring to family and economic opportunities, it is an apropos sentiment to apply to health, as well as mental health. Social and cultural forces have long been hypothesized to shape concepts of self, expressions of self and self-regulation. Although ‘country’ identification can be conflated with a predominant culture artificially circumscribed by borders, it confers at least some level of connectedness to a certain set of customs, beliefs and norms. Not surprisingly, the idea that one’s country or cultural contact can shape an individual has been part of scholarly discourse for centuries among theologians, philosophers and anthropologists. At a fundamental level, understanding the human condition and mental health requires the discussion of culture.

The nuanced ways in which a country or culture may interact with an individual’s biology alongside institutional and structural factors warrant prominence in theoretical models of mental health and risk of developing mental health disorders. Contemporary frameworks that incorporate social determinants of mental health include cultural components and can highlight the potential additive effects of culture in shaping an individual’s experience. The extent to which someone is likely to engage in help-seeking behavior for a mental health condition can be predicated on cultural or community norms. For example, as a group, Asian Americans are less likely to utilize mental health services. The experience of stigma around mental health issues is often magnified in eastern cultures, where an individual’s behaviors and health can reflect on their familial lineage. By contrast, there are culturally salient factors, such as one’s proficiency in English language or feminine gender, that can serve to lessen stigma and promote contact with mental health providers.

Although there can be major barriers to accessing mental health care prompted by cultural influences, access itself is subject to community and country-level constraints, including funding for compensating providers, training for specialized care for certain groups, and coverage for medication and treatment. Culturally competent or responsive care, which is designed to involve stakeholders and representation from community members, integrates components of mental health care that may be outside of more medicalized treatment and can include religion, spirituality or the arts, and relies on active dismantling of impediments to receiving treatment, such as increasing access to telemedicine or group therapy. Improving the quality and accessibility of mental health care also incorporates a broad view of culture and cultural needs in the sense that individual mental health is woven together with intersectional identity and community — for example, being a woman, identifying as LGBT+, or immigration status. The complexity of identity and culture make one-size-fits-all mental health approaches obsolete and inadequate.

The August 2024 issue of Nature Mental Health includes several pieces that highlight some of the ways in which country setting or culture can influence mental health. In their Perspective , Toffol et al. discuss recent country-level developments in the programs for one of the most vulnerable groups, children of parents with a mental illness (COPMI). The authors discuss some of the key lessons learned from intervention programs aimed at COPMI, including European projects in Germany, Denmark and Austria. The authors outline specific barriers and problems, and propose facilitators and recommendations to identify affected children as early as possible, and provide culturally responsive and interconnected mental health care for people who have often been underserved.

Australia’s Emerging Minds program is another national strategy that trains professionals to identify, assess and support COPMI with a cultural lens. In addition to specific programming for children, the project oversees training and resources for practitioners, families and researchers that specifically focus on children’s mental health. People of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage in Australia have long experienced racial discrimination associated with negative physical and mental health consequences. Emerging Minds incorporates training pathways that encompass unique cultural experiences, drawing on spiritual and cultural concepts and tenets, the interaction with social, legal and political frameworks in Australia, and considers the intergenerational trauma that affects families and communities.

In an Article , Agarwal et al. report an association between stock market fluctuations and mental and physical health effects, providing another vantage point to appreciate the potential influence of culture and country context. Tracking daily market returns alongside visits to emergency rooms at three of the largest hospitals in Beijing over a four-year period (2009–2012), stock market declines were linked to significant increases in emergency room visits for stress-related issues, including cardiovascular disease, mental health concerns and alcohol abuse. Notably, older adults and men were the groups most affected by these fluctuations.

Although these data are considered ‘historical’ (which can probably apply to most data collected before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic), they provide unique insights into the Chinese cultural context and the potential mental health effects of economic volatility in a developing country. Much of the previous work in this area was conducted in high-income countries, where a greater proportion of individuals sampled were seasoned investors. By contrast, investors in the time frame assessed in Beijing were more likely to be novices who were interacting with a less sophisticated and less stable market, underscoring the immediacy of stress-related responses. These findings suggest that economic shock and volatility can be considered substantial public health concerns, even more so for resource-limited individuals in developing countries

Health systems data from different regions or countries can also reflect ‘natural experiments’, such as emergency room visits prompted by disasters or crises. With so much scrutiny in recent years on overdose deaths, rising stimulant prescriptions and mental health diagnoses, hospital admissions data can often provide insights into current versus previous timepoints in an epidemiological landscape. In their Article , Xing et al. look at hospital admissions in the USA over more than a decade, using weighted National Inpatient Survey data from 2008 to 2020. The authors report a 10.5-fold increase in mental health disorder-related hospital admissions with concurrent methamphetamine use. Hospital admissions related to mental health disorders increased only modestly during this period (1.4-fold), but these data point to the enormous burden on US hospital systems presented by the increased methamphetamine use — a phenomenon that differentially affects North America.

These are just a few examples of research where culture or country setting may enhance the interpretation of the results or provide additional background, and it is vital that more work is done specifically in cultural mental health research, and also to better understand the specific structures and institutions within country and regional mental health care systems. Nature Mental Health takes a keen interest in work that describes and documents mental health care systems internationally. By presenting and discussing for whom and how mental health care is organized and delivered, and by disseminating shortcomings and achievements, we move closer to better treatment, improved access, training and outcomes. The contexts and what came before us do not have to limit mental health care, but instead can inform and determine where we go next.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Country and culture, mental health in context. Nat. Mental Health 2 , 877–878 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00305-2

Download citation

Published : 08 August 2024

Issue Date : August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00305-2

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Mental health among nation's teens takes upward turn, but challenges remain, study says

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Roybal Campus, in Metro Atlanta.  Credit: CDC/Judy Gantt

The mental health of teenagers improved somewhat as the COVID-19 pandemic eased, a new federal study says, though experts on Long Island said it remains a major problem, fueled in part by addiction to cellphones and social media.

The number of adolescents reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness dropped slightly between 2021 and 2023, from 42% to 40%, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released last week. For girls, the percentage dropped from 57% to 53%, while the number of girls who seriously considered suicide fell from 30% to 27%.

Mental health experts on Long Island said that while those numbers may be cause for limited optimism, they underscored that depression, anxiety and other issues remain widespread among teenagers.

"Even though there are some improvements in some of the mental health markers among youth, it is important to note how dramatic the continued mental health crisis is," said Dr. Victor Fornari, the vice chair of child and adolescent psychiatry for Northwell Health.

   WHAT TO KNOW

• Some indicators show that mental health among teenagers nationwide has improved over the last couple of years, a new federal CDC study shows.
• Experts on Long Island say while that is good news, mental health issues among teens remain widespread and far more needs to be done to address them.
• The study found that persistent sadness or hopelessness among adolescents fell from 42% to 40% between 2021 and 2023. The percentage in 2013 was 30%.

"It is important to note how dramatic the continued mental health crisis is," said Dr. Victor Fornari, vice chair of child and adolescent psychiatry for Northwell Health. Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa Loarca

He noted that four out of every 10 teenagers reported continuous sadness or hopelessness in 2023, meaning they felt so despondent for at least two weeks that they stopped doing their usual activities. About 20% seriously considered suicide, 16% came up with a suicide plan, and 9% attempted suicide, according to the report.

Get the latest stories every week about health and wellness, covering topics from medicine and mental health to updates on the coronavirus and new research.

By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy .

And while the number of teens reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness fell to 40% in 2023, a decade earlier it was 30%.

Dr. Adria Gerber, a licensed clinical psychologist at Stony Brook Medicine, said that "although there has been some improvement ... the numbers are daunting."

The report did not include figures on suicides among teenagers, but according to the CDC, suicide is now the second-leading cause of death after unintentional injury among people ages 10 to 34 in the United States.

Guarded optimism about new numbers

CDC officials said they saw reasons for hope with the latest report.

"One of our main priorities at [the] CDC is improving Americans’ mental health," Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science, said in a statement. The report shows "improvements to a number of metrics that measure young people's mental well-being — progress we can build on. However, this work is far from complete." 

Among minority teenagers, the report found some improvement also.

The number of Hispanics who felt persistently sad or hopeless fell from 46% to 42%. Hispanic students who seriously considered attempting suicide dropped from 22% to 18%, while those who made a suicide plan fell from 19% to 16%.

Among Black students, the amount who attempted suicide fell from 14% to 10%, while those injured in a suicide attempt fell from 4% to 2%.

For LGBT+ students, the study found troubling trends: In 2023, nearly three in 10 were bullied at school, and two in 10 attempted suicide.

Some local experts attributed the small improvements to the country emerging from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and returning to some normalcy. The CDC study was based on data from the 2021 and 2023 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The pandemic erupted in the United States in March 2020.

"Some of it might be coming out on the other side of the pandemic," Fornari said. "We know that the COVID pandemic demonstrated a dramatic increase in mental health concerns among youth" as they had to stay home for months and engage in remote learning.

Christopher Coluccio, of Blue Point, whose 14-year-old son, also named Christopher, died by suicide in 2021, agreed.

"I have a concern that, as much as it’s a good number, that some of it is just falling off from how people were in COVID and that we’re just getting back to the real numbers," said Coluccio, who now runs a foundation aimed at combating suicide.

Others said the improvements might be due to more people seeking mental health services as the stigma surrounding the issue slowly dissipates.

"The one good thing about COVID is that we really laser-focused on people’s mental health, because we saw it deteriorating so quickly," said Jeffrey Friedman, CEO of the nonprofit CN Guidance & Counseling Services in Hicksville.

"We’re seeing more people access services, and when more people access services and enter treatment, we do see a decrease in people experiencing sadness or hopelessness and an increase in their overall mental health," he said.

His agency has seen a 20% increase in young people receiving mental health assistance since 2022, he said.

Gerber, who works at the Outpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Stony Brook University Hospital, said that clinic was overwhelmed with requests for help during the early years of the pandemic, with a 200% increase between 2020 and 2022. Social isolation due to the pandemic was causing widespread depression, anxiety and other issues, she said.

"We were getting this huge increase in call volume that we weren’t able to manage," she said.

Demand for service is still high, she said, but has dropped to a more manageable level.

Access to mental health counseling has improved partly because of another consequence of the pandemic — "telehealth," or counseling sessions held over Zoom or other programs. Now teenagers don’t have to rely on their parents to drive them to a therapist’s office, she said.

Not all local experts think the mental health situation of teenagers has improved.

Kathy Rivera, who heads the North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center, said, "Rates of depression and anxiety are pervasive, particularly among Hispanic girls." Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.

"Rates of depression and anxiety are pervasive, particularly among Hispanic girls," said Kathy Rivera, executive director and CEO of North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center in Nassau County. Her agency has "not seen a reduction in the overall need for our vital children’s mental health programs."

Claudia Boyle, CEO of the Hispanic Counseling Center in Hempstead and Bay Shore, said that while the overall picture for Hispanics nationwide may have improved, "That’s not the case ... in Nassau and in Suffolk. I don’t feel that it’s going down."

Her agency is receiving a growing number of calls for help, with self-harm, hopelessness, thoughts of suicide and other problems common. Even this summer — a season when requests typically drop — the number of calls has remained steady.

"The kids have very few coping skills," she said. "It’s just a different world."

Social media and mental health

Many experts attribute some of the ongoing mental health problems to the emergence over the last decade of ubiquitous cellphones and social media.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in 2023 issued an extraordinary public warning that social media poses a threat to the mental health of young people. In June, he called for warning labels on the platforms, like those mandated on cigarette boxes. Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, he said.

Cellphones, said Northwell’s Fornari, are central to the mental health crisis "because we are holding a handheld computer that has access to the internet and social media. Youth are targeted and bullied on social media in ways that we can’t even imagine. It’s not just being called names in the cafeteria or in the hallway. It really can be quite toxic and quite hurtful."

Rivera agreed, and said many teens are even turning to the internet for inappropriate mental health assistance.

"The dangers of social media have only intensified over time," she said. "Many youths, particularly teens, are turning to online platforms for self-diagnosis and treatment or use unregulated mental health apps to fill their need for social connectedness. While these may offer temporary relief, they fail to address the underlying issues, which may exacerbate at a later time."

Still, some experts have hope that the improvement in the numbers cited by the CDC will continue. They say the growing number of famous people speaking out about their mental health struggles can help end the stigma around the topic.

Simone Biles, considered the greatest gymnast of all time, has spoken openly of her mental health struggles — and how therapy helped her. After withdrawing from five event finals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she came back to this summer’s games in Paris — and won three gold medals and one silver.

"She’s phenomenal," Gerber said. "It’s just unbelievable to see the turnaround and to see her performance. I think she brought to the stage just this understanding that she’s human. She’s shown that if you admit what is going on, there is a community out there to help you. They can help you become your best self."

Bart Jones has covered religion, immigration and major breaking news at Newsday since 2000. A former foreign correspondent for The Associated Press in Venezuela, he is the author of “HUGO! The Hugo Chavez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution.”

Suffolk cyberattack investigation . . . How will Nassau enforce mask ban? . . . 100 years of 4-H . . . Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV

Get more on these and other NewsdayTV stories

Most Popular

Latest videos, stay logged in..

The Newsday app makes it easier to access content without having to log in.

CYBER MONDAY IN AUGUST 26¢ for 5 6 months

Welcome to the AACAP's 2024 Annual Meeting... please wait while the program loads.

Oops your browser seems to have javascript disabled. make sure javascript is enabled or try opening a different browser..