What is mental health and how can you improve it?

You hear the term ‘mental health’ a lot, but what does it actually mean, how can it affect you, how can you look after it, and how can you support the people you care about to do the same?

We asked health and wellbeing expert Dr Radha Modgil to explain everything you need to know about your mental health and how to look after it. Here are Dr Radha's thoughts.

Our mental health is so important. It's part of who we are, how we feel, and how we approach every day. It's not a static thing; it changes all the time, even from second to second. One of the most helpful life skills for us all to develop is to understand how our minds work, and to notice how our mental health is on a very regular basis, so we can try out different strategies and see which ones work for us in having good mental health. We can then have confidence that we can lean into those strategies in the good but also the tough times even more so, and manage however life unfolds.

We all have ‘mental health’, but what does that mean? Well, just like when our bodies are healthy and they are working well, good mental health is our mind’s equivalent. We all have days when our bodies feel full of energy and we don’t have any aches or pains, and we all have days when we feel physically tired and maybe under the weather. Our minds can also have days when we feel motivated and happy, and days when we feel low and sad. That is completely normal, and part of being human.

Why is mental health important?

Our mental health is one of the most important things we can look after; it can affect the way we think, our self-esteem and confidence, the quality of our relationships, our physical health, our sleep, our ability to concentrate, the decisions we make, the opportunities we open ourselves up to, and how we manage stress in life.

In the same way we brush our teeth, have a shower, eat, drink and look after our bodies, we also need to be looking after our mental health every single day. If we don’t maintain and have strategies to look after our mental health, then stress or anxiety builds and other challenging emotions and thoughts can get layered one on top of each other, so they get harder to unravel.

Mental health vs mental illness

Our mental health is about our wellbeing; emotionally, socially and psychologically, whereas mental illness includes a range of mental health conditions that can impact how we think, feel and act and are diagnosed as a certain condition; for example, depression or anxiety.

What affects mental health?

There are lots of things that can affect our mental health. These can be biological; sometimes our genetics can make us more likely to have challenges with our mental health; if we have poor physical health this can have an impact or if we have sleep problems. They might also be what we call psychological; for example, the beliefs we have, how we perceive different things that happen in life, traumatic or difficult situations or events we grew up or a mental illness. And lastly, there might be social factors; big life events like bereavement or a change in family circumstances, the quality of our relationships, our finances or a challenging home environment.

How does social media affect mental health?

Social media can have a big impact on our mental health, sometimes negatively so. If we use social media a lot, we can be more likely to feel anxious or low in mood, as well as an increase in worries about our body image, being bullied online, or feeling left out of social interactions and having FOMO, or comparing ourselves to everyone. Using screens can also impact our sleep, both the quantity and quality because of the blue light emitted, and if we are doomscrolling rather than relaxing in bed fast asleep.

Think about how you are using social media; for what, when and for how long, and importantly how you feel before and after you go on it. Debrief and chat through things with a trusted friend or parent, protect your feed and unfollow people who don’t make you feel good, activate all the recommended safety tools, and tell your parent and report any one who makes you feel unsafe on the digital platform. Also, be aware of any content or images that make you feel worried or scared and be sure to tell someone how you feel.

There is growing awareness of some of the harms of social media for our mental health, especially at a younger age when our brains are developing, so decide for yourself and be confident that you can choose to come off it, and instead do things in real life that make you feel much happier and are better for you.

How to improve mental health

Managing your thoughts

There are lots of simple day to day things you can do to help look after your mental health. Some of these are to do with your thoughts; just being still and taking some time to be in the present moment so you are not regretting things in the past or worrying about the future. You can do this by just noticing what is around you; what you can see and smell and touch and hear, or by doing some slow, deep belly breathing because activates our parasympathetic nervous system, which slows our heart rate and can give us some perspective over our own problems.

You may also find noticing thoughts that run through your mind, not judging them but just allowing them to be, or reframing them to be less negative and more positive can help and become a healthier habit. It can also help to ask for help problems solving anything in your life you feel makes you stressed or worried; we can’t always find a solution to everything, but sometimes there are steps we can take to reduce stress and worries. It can also be helpful to think about things that have gone well in your life, or how in the past if things have been difficult then how they did get better in time, and to try and find even small things in your day that make you feel happy or grateful.

Understanding and managing emotions

There are also things we can do to help with our emotions. Emotions or the way we feel often ripples from the thoughts we have, although sometimes they come so fast we aren’t sure what we were thinking. Or, sometimes emotions seem to come from nowhere. One of the ways we can manage emotions is to get still, slow down and notice what we are feeling and ask yourself that simple question regularly: ‘how am I feeling right now?’. Naming that feeling can really help; I am angry, I am sad, I am anxious. Once we have named it and given it a label, it can then feel like there is more distance between it and us, and then we can take a deep breath and choose to respond rather than react.

You may need some time and space away from someone, you may need to go for a walk or listen to something to help you get some perspective, you might need to take some deep breaths or to sit quietly somewhere you feel safe for a while. Our so-called ‘thinking’ part of our brains can then respond in a calmer way or decide what we might do to help ourselves feel better, rather than our ‘reactive’ brain which is usefully designed to react to danger quickly, but not always to helpful in other situations.

Supporting mental health through physical wellbeing

Some things you can do to improve your mental health use your physical body to help; making sure you are getting enough and good quality sleep every night is vital as our brains rest and restore themselves, and process all our emotions and memories. Trying to eat a healthy diet and avoiding smoking, alcohol and caffeine can help, as well as staying hydrated as up to 80% of our brains is water. Exercise and getting physically active is also helpful, as that releases dopamine and serotonin which boost our mood, and can lower our cortisol (stress hormone).

The importance of connection and enjoyment

And some of the things you can do are about the way we spend our time every day. Spending time with people who make us feel loved and valued has been shown in scientific research to be one of the best things we can do, and a powerful protective habit against life challenges. It is also good to make sure you carve out time for yourself to do the things you enjoy; listen to music, get creative with art, journal or read, or walk in nature.

When to seek extra support for your mental health

If you have a mental illness, if you feel like you are struggling with your thoughts or feelings, or if your mental health is starting to affect how much or what you are able to do in day to day life, then make sure you seek support from your GP or a healthcare professional, and make sure you tell a trusted friend or family member, so you can get the support you need, and get it early.

We are all in this together when it comes to our mental health; we will all experience challenge, stress, problems, loss and much, much more in life alongside all of the joy, love and happiness. We can do our best to support those around us, with them supporting us, and together we can move towards better mental health for everyone.

If you need support

You should always tell someone about the things you’re worried about. You can tell a friend, parent, guardian, teacher, or another trusted adult. If you're struggling with your mental health, going to your GP can be a good place to start to find help. Your GP can let you know what support is available to you, suggest different types of treatment and offer regular check-ups to see how you’re doing.

If you’re in need of in-the-moment support you can contact Childline, where you can speak to a counsellor. Their lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

There are more links to helpful organisations on the BBC Bitesize Action Line page for young people.