Mental health has been gaining more and more attention in our culture in the last few years. The millennial generation is leading the way in terms of talking about self-care, mental health, wellness, healing, and everything in between. Charlamagne Tha God makes it a regular point of conversation in most of the interviews conducted on The Breakfast Club. This increased attention makes my heart smile and I’m enjoying being a part of the continuation of the conversation around mental health.

As we continue the conversation, we need to keep language in mind and meanings of terms in mind. It is important to recognize mental health and mental illness are not the same things, although they are often used interchangeably.

One of the easiest ways to understand the difference between mental health and mental illness is to consider the difference between physical health and physical illness – they are very similar.  Physical health refers to well…the health or wellness of our physical bodies. Physical illness refers to a diagnosed condition by a licensed professional (i.e. nurse practitioner, doctor, specialist). For example, high blood pressure speaks to the health of your body or blood pressure, whereas hypertension is an official diagnosed physical illness that typically requires treatment. Having high blood pressure (poor physical health) over time will most often lead to a diagnosis of hypertension (physical illness). 

It’s the same thing with mental health and mental illness. Prolonged poor mental health often leads to a diagnosable mental illness just as consistent poor physical health leads to a diagnosable physical illness.

Mental health simply is the health or quality of our emotional, mental, and social well-being. It reflects the health or quality of our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and actions. It relates to how we think, feel, and interact with the world around us. It impacts how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Therefore, WE ALL deal with mental health on a daily basis! It is important at EVERY stage of life, from childhood through adulthood.

We’ve covered what mental health is, now let’s touch on mental illness. Mental illness refers to the wide range of mental health conditions or states of being that affect your mood, thinking, and behaviors. A mental illness typically includes a diagnosis by a licensed professional. Examples of mental illnesses or disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, alcohol use disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder).

It is so important to keep in mind that mental illness and disorders ARE NOT labels that should be attached to our identities. They are merely categories of a set of symptoms, characteristics, and criteria that explain a certain mental or behavioral pattern that is causing distress and/or impairment of functioning. These disorders help us understand an individual’s experience and how to appropriately respond as health professionals. They are not for the shaming and condemnation of people. We don’t tell someone with cancer that they ‘are’ cancer or should just get over it. Same goes for mental illness. You are not depressed or bipolar. You may have these things or deal with them but you yourself are not inherently those things.

After reading this, you now know better. Therefore, I challenge you to do better and shift the way you interact with the topic of mental health and mental illness.

I’ve shared these before and I will share them again...Here are 9 ways you can do your part to change the conversation and break the stigma:  

1. Talk openly about mental health.

2. Educate yourself and others.

3. Be conscious of language. (the point of this entire post)

4. Encourage equality between physical health and mental health.

5. Show compassion for those with mental illness.

6. Chose empowerment over shame.

7. Be honest about treatment.

8. Let the media and others know when they are being stigmatizing.

9. Don’t harbor self-stigma.