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    What is mental health?

    Mental health

    Includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood

    Mental Health is very similar to your physical health and everybody has it, it is just how healthy your mind is. It is all about your emotional, social and psychological wellbeing. Just like physical health, your mental health can change over time. It is normal to be in the red zone of the mental health scale sometimes, but you should ask for support if it starts to affect your life or you feel like this for a long period of time. 

    Smiley face mood scale ranging from green smiley face to red sad face

    Green Zone

    Feeling Happy and Positive
    Feeling comfortable
    Feeling excited
    Feeling you have a handle on things

    Middle Ground

    Feeling Average
    Not over the moon but not feeling down
    Having some worries on things

    Red Zone 

    Feelings of worry
    Feeling sad and down
    Negative thoughts
    Feeling like you are not able to cope

    Emotional health 

    While the terms mental health and emotional health are sometimes used interchangeably, they are distinctly different. Mental health refers to your ability to process information. Emotional health, on the other hand, refers to your ability to express feelings which are based upon the information you have processed.

    Emotional wellness inspires self-care, relaxation, stress reduction and the development of inner strength. It is important to be attentive to both positive and negative feelings and be able to understand how to handle these emotions. It is an important part of overall wellness.

    Emotional health is an important part of your overall health. People who are emotionally healthy are in control of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. It means you are aware of your emotions. You can deal with them, whether they are positive or negative. Emotionally healthy people still feel stress, anger, and sadness but they are able to cope with these feelings and do things to make themselves feel better.

    Although an emotional or social problem may make you feel sad and low it does not mean you have a mental health problem. Also, hormonal changes during puberty can make your moods intense and make them change really quickly.  This just means you need to focus on strategies to help you deal with these feelings and put your emotional well-being back on track. 

    Written by: Georgia Kinsella

    Senior Childrens Rights and Participation Assistant