Mental Health Vs. Mental Illness
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As a mental health professional, and a human with mental illness, I for one am super grateful the terms mental health and mental illness are becoming so mainstream. While there is still a long way to go in the fight against stigma, we can't deny how far we have come.
We hear the words mental health and mental illness quite regularly these days, sometimes interchangeably.
But are they the same thing?
Are mental health and mental illness opposite ends of the same spectrum? What exactly is mental health? Can you have a mental illness and also have good mental health?
Clearly this topic is a bit murky (ha! See what I did there?), but I am going to take my best shot at simplifying it for you.
Let's all take a deep breath as we dive into the murky waters of Mental Health vs Mental Illness.
So what is Mental Health?
Mental health is a measure of our emotional, psychological, and social well-being at any given time, and it spans a spectrum from good to poor.
Everyone has mental health, and everyone experiences fluctuations in it throughout life, albeit some people fluctuate more widely than others.
When our mental health is robust, we are at our best. We feel fulfilled socially and are able to engage meaningfully in our relationships; we are mostly productive and reasonable in our thinking; we can tolerate a fair amount of stress and continue to take care of ourselves; and although we have normal ups and downs emotionally, we can experience a variety of feelings without much distress.
And like I said, it fluctuates. Stress and self-care play a huge role in the state of our mental health. The stronger your self-care game, and the lower your stress levels, the more likely it is you'll have kick-ass mental health. Look at you go!
But let’s face it, life is stressful. And the more stress we have (hello, bills, deadlines, loneliness, and ummm... A global pandemic) the harder it can be to maintain a good self-care practice, which in turn reduces resiliency. Ugh.
Anyway, when we have a lot of stress and are lacking in self-care and other protective factors, we might move along the mental health continuum and find ourselves on the low end. Something every single human being is vulnerable to.
When our mental health is poor we may have greater difficulty managing stress, we may find our thoughts or emotions disturbing, and we may not take good care of ourselves.
This is where the conversation gets a bit tricky. Because poor mental health often looks like a variety of mental illnesses. But lacking mental wellness doesn’t necessarily mean you have a mental illness.
What is mental illness then?
This concept refers to diagnosable conditions related to thoughts, mood, and behaviour. And mental illnesses are thought of categorically (for now anyway - I'll link some #science down below for my fellow nerds).
There are many types - or categories - of mental illness. I wont get into that now, or we’ll be swimming in these waters all day.
Photo by Yuris Alhumaydy on Unsplash
But generally speaking, mental illness causes significant distress or impairment in functioning, and has specific criteria regarding duration, frequency, intensity, and number of symptoms experienced.
Therapists often hear clients self-diagnosing. Maybe you think you have a certain diagnosis because a friend or family member said so, or you’ve taken an online quiz. But - and I cannot stress this enough - a mental illness can only be diagnosed by a qualified professional.
A diagnosis should only be given to you by someone who is well-trained and legally qualified to give you that diagnosis.
The assessment of mental health vs mental illness, or one disorder vs another, is a complicated one that requires a skilled, careful, and informed exploration. A proper understanding of your condition is essential for effective treatment and care, so it's best to speak with a professional.
If you’ve been experiencing poor mental health or you believe you may have a mental illness, please seek help. Mental illness rarely goes away on its own, and often gets worse over time.
There are many resources available. You do not have to suffer.
With the right treatment it’s possible to achieve symptom management, and maintain good mental health with a mental illness.
Please seek help.
So, is counselling just for mental illness?
Nope!
In my humble opinion, everyone could benefit from counselling - even those among us who do not have mental illness and have strong mental health - because counselling offers a deeper understanding of the self and how you navigate this world, which is an amazing platform for growth. Plus, you never know when life might throw you a major curveball - like a global pandemic - and suddenly you're not managing as well as you used to.
Counselling for mental health tends to focus on increasing resiliency and protective factors, while also increasing self-awareness. Things everyone could benefit from.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
Therapy for mental illness includes those too, but will also focus on treating the diagnosed disorder based on research that strongly suggests a particular treatment is helpful for that particular illness.
If you have a mental illness, it's important to seek a qualified therapist who is familiar with treating the illness you have, to see the best outcomes. And sometimes, depending on the disorder and the severity, a team approach is needed (counsellor, doctor, psychiatrist, etc.).
So, now you know you can lack mental wellness but not have a mental illness, and you can also have a diagnosable mental illness, but regain good mental health and symptom management with proper treatment.
Boom! Clear as mud.
Either way, help is available. If you have a mental illness, help is available. And if you’re lacking mental wellness, help is available. And if you’re otherwise healthy… help is available for you too.
Let’s normalize getting help.
Come back next week to learn about 3 key benefits of mental health counselling!
If you would like to know more about the types of mental illness, check out this fact sheet by the World Health Organization.
If you're a nerd like me and you want to learn about the dimensionality of mental illness, check out this article.
Take good care, love!
Wow!
You made it to the end of the very first blog post! I’m impressed. Show me some love in the comments, let me know you were here, or let me know your thoughts on mental health and mental illness.
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