Mental Health and Wellness

Definition

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. Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected.

Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:

The first thing you must know is that you are not alone. Mental health conditions are far more common than you think, mainly because people don’t like to, or are scared to, talk about them. However:

None of this means that you’re broken or that you, or your family, did something “wrong.” Mental illness is no one’s fault. And for many people, recovery — including meaningful roles in social life, school and work — is possible, especially when you start treatment early and play a strong role in your own recovery process.

Mental health is “a state of successful performance or mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships with other people, and the ability to adapt to change and cope with adversity.”, According to the World Health Organization.

Human well-being must be at the heart of the elite athletic performance. Athletes should feel empowered and nurtured both physically and mentally. Mental health and physical health are two halves of a whole, and care for both must be seen as a priority.

Mental Health and Behavioral Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Everyone can experience anxiety, but when symptoms are overwhelming and constant — often impacting everyday living — it may be an anxiety disorder.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD is a developmental disorder defined by inattention (trouble staying on task, listening); disorganization (losing materials); and hyperactivity-impulsivity (fidgeting, difficulty staying seated or waiting). An estimated 8.8% of children aged 4-17 have ADHD. While ADHD is usually diagnosed in childhood, it does not only affect children. An estimated 4.4% of adults aged 18-44 have ADHD.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder causes dramatic shifts in a person’s mood, energy and ability to think clearly. Individuals with this disorder experience extreme high and low moods, known as mania and depression. Some people can be symptom-free for many years between episodes.

Borderline Personality Disorder

BPD is characterized by a pattern of instability in emotions (commonly referred to as dysregulation), interpersonal relationships, and self-image. Individuals with BPD can also struggle with impulsivity and self-harm.

Depression

Depression involves recurrent, severe periods of clear-cut changes in mood, thought processes and motivation lasting for a minimum of two weeks. Changes in thought processes typically include negative thoughts and hopelessness. Depression also involves affects sleep/energy, appetite or weight.

Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative disorders, which are frequently associated with trauma, disrupt every area of psychological functioning: consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, motor control and behavior.

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are characterized by the intentional changing of food consumption to the point where physical health or social behaviors are affected.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCD involves persistent, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors that a person feels driven to perform (compulsions) in response to those thoughts.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD involves a set of physiological and psychological responses. It can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, rape, war/combat or something similar.

Psychosis

Psychosis is characterized as disruptions to a person’s thoughts and perceptions that make it difficult for them to recognize what is real and what isn’t.

Schizoaffective Disorder

Schizoaffective disorder involves symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, and symptoms of a mood disorder, such as depressive or manic episodes.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions and relate to others. It also causes people to lose touch with reality, often in the form of hallucinations and delusions.