Mental health has a stigma: When people talk about “mental health” their immediate thoughts are often about disorders such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder or even a person that is institutionalized because of their mental health.

But that’s not all mental health is about. Mental health is more than the presence of a mental health condition or illness: it is also a positive sense of well-being, or the capacity to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face.

Positive mental health is defined as a state of well-being where individuals are able to realize their own potential, work productivity, cope with the normal stresses of life and make a positive contribution to the community.

Mental health impacts each and every one of us. We all have mental health, just as we all have physical health. People living with a mental health issue or condition can experience positive mental health, and an individual may experience poor mental health without a mental health condition. 

According to HelpGuide, our mental health influences how we think, feel and behave in our everyday lives. It can also affect our ability to cope with stress, overcome challenges, build relationships and recover from life’s setbacks and hardships.

Mental health is about wellness rather than illness. Some experts have tried coming up with different terms to explain the difference between ‘mental health’ and ‘mental health conditions’. Phrases such as ‘good mental health’, ‘positive mental health’, ‘mental well being’, ‘subjective well being’ and even ‘happiness’ have been recommended by various people to indicate that mental health is about wellness rather than illness. 

As a society, we should begin to think of mental health in a different light. Instead of finding all of the negatives aspects of mental health, we need to realize that there are two different sides. A bad side and a good side.  If we change the way we view mental health, people will begin to see it in a new light.