Mental Health is Health

Today is World Health Day. When most people think of health, they think of doctors and the apples that keep them away. They think of exercise and blood pressures. After the last few years they think about COVID, about sick or healthy, etc. Yet mental health is an essential part of health, but not enough people think about that.

For starters, I know in the depths of my depression I am usually not taking good care of myself. I am not sleeping well. Not eating well. Not excercising. Really, just not doing anything well. And when you are physically sick, it can be a trigger for your mental health as well.

However, not enough people, not even enough doctors, think about mental health when they talk about overall health. Too often, individuals must advocate for themselves when it comes to the health care system treating their mental health. When I decided I should try medication for my depression and anxiety I had to push my primary care doctor. I am also lucky that my primary care doctor recognized when it made sense for her to refer me to a psychiatrist for a closer monitoring of my mental health medication. Some primary care doctors try to manage these medications themselves and they don’t always do so well, which brings us back to the patient needing to advocate for themselves.

There are many ways you can take care of your mental health, not just on World Mental Health Day, but everyday. Often, these activities can have multiple benefits. For example, going for a walk or a run isn’t just good cardio for your heart, it is also a good serotonin booster for your mental health. The point of this post isn’t that mental health or physical health are more important than one or the other. Rather, it is a reminder to so many of us out there that mental health is health.