Mental Health and Mental Illness
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What is Mental Health?
Mental health is the well-being of our minds. This includes how we feel, our emotions, and our ability to manage life’s highs and lows. We often take care of our physical health to feel good and do the things we love. Taking care of our mental health is just as important!
The Mental Health Continuum
Having good mental health does not mean that we feel “good” all the time. Mental health exists on a continuum and changes based on life’s challenges. At times, we could be feeling really good. At other times, stress, sadness, fatigue, or other emotions may surface. These changes are a normal part of life and do not always indicate a mental health concern. However, when difficult feelings become more intense, last longer, or start to affect how you think, feel, or act, it may be a sign that our place on the continuum has changed. Tools such as professional mental health support and/or mindfulness habits like meditation or journaling, can help us recognize when our position on the continuum has changed and implement strategies to get back to feeling good.
What is Mental Illness?
Mental illnesses are diagnosed medical conditions that involve changes in thinking, mood, and behaviour, which can cause significant distress. Mental illness symptoms can be harder to identify compared to physical illness symptoms and may seem invisible to others. Connecting with mental health professionals can be helpful for symptom management, diagnosis, and treatment.
Healthy Minds @ Magna
May marks the start of the Healthy Minds @ Magna mental health campaign aimed to increase awareness and de-stigmatize mental health and mental illness. Here’s what you can look forward to over the next few months:
• Weekly mental health articles for the month of May - posted to magnawellness.com.
• Virtual mental health panel: employees will share real-life mental health experiences with expert insight from a psychologist – available on MagNET and MyLife in mid-May.
• Good for You newsletter focused on mental health and resilience – available in July.
