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.
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:
- Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry
- Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse
- Family history of mental health problems
Mental health problems are common but help is available. People with mental health problems can get better and many recover completely.
(source: https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health)
Mental Health and Wellness Apps
Mental Health Apps can be great tools to supplement the progress you’ve made during individual or group therapy or with medication and other treatments. From the comforts of home (with a smartphone or tablet), you can use Apps to learn coping skills, track your feelings, improve your mood, conquer negative thoughts, set up daily reminders, and more. If you choose, some apps can even send reports to your doctor.
In this article from verywellmind.com, Amy Morin, LCSW, details the pros, cons, costs, and features of the 12 Best Mental Health Apps of 2022. Check them out!
Ashley Braun, MPH, RD, of healthline.com has shared a list of The 10 Best Mental Health Apps of 2022. While recognizing that mental health apps can be highly effective in helping people manage some mental health conditions, she warns that these apps don’t replace mental health professionals. They may be most effective when used alongside work with a therapist. Take a look!
Christine Forbes, a writer for prevention.com, has also compiled a list of 20 Best Mental Health Apps That Will Offer Instant Support on Tough Days. In her article, she recognizes that people are waiting longer than usual for a therapy appointment, so why not try using a mental health app to fill in the gaps?
Take your WRAP with you! The WRAP App. is available for iOS and Android phones. Using this App, you can develop your Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) and carry the tool with you. Stay on track. Keep moving forward. Gain support and remain in control. Manage crisis. YOUR personalized plan in YOUR pocket!
Mental Health and Wellness Websites
Offered as a supplement to treatment, the following websites may help you on your recovery journey. Explore them to understand a new diagnosis, recognize symptoms of mental illness, learn more about current therapies, research questions that you may have, find education and build a support community, understand medications, terminology, and definitions, build your strengths and resiliency, develop wellness tools, step into advocacy, and build your own RECOVERY.
PsychologyToday.com publishes content written by clinicians, experts, and researchers from across the fields of behavior and psychology. The site includes a Diagnosis Dictionary, which is a comprehensive guide to diagnosable conditions; hundreds of commonly used and need-to-know psychology Basics, a full overview of Therapy Types, and comprehensive content.
Verywell Mind is an award-winning resource for reliable, compassionate, and up-to-date information on the mental health topics that matter most to you. We are dedicated to providing you with the best answers to your most pressing health and wellness questions. Our team of writers and editors are industry experts, including healthcare professionals and health journalists, who write and continually update our 5,500+ article library.
NAMI | The National Alliance on Mental Illness is the largest nationwide mental health advocacy grassroots organization with hundreds of state organizations, affiliates, and volunteers. It is a hub for support groups, free education, raising awareness, and building community.
MedlinePlus — Mental Health is the National Institutes of Health’s collection of resources from the National Library of Medicine. It includes information about conditions, treatments, patients, families and friends, latest research, drugs and supplements, terminology and definitions, videos, illustrations, and clinical trials.
PsychCentral is an extensive annotated directory of mental health resources, including general information, as well as blogs, online communities, support groups, articles, quizzes, and books.
Our goal is to help connect you with the guidance and support you need to help make meaningful changes that can benefit you in your real life. At Psych Central, we believe that exploring your mental health is less about identifying what’s “wrong” and more about fortifying your strengths and deepening your understanding of yourself and your needs.
Mental Health America / Recovery & Support
If you live with mental illness, you may be struggling to find treatment, manage your medication and cope with life’s challenges effectively.
There is ample cause for hope!
You are not alone, help is available, mental health conditions are treatable, and you can take practical steps to recover your life.
Mental Health America provides interactive tools and resources to help you better understand your treatment options, work closely with your health care provider, learn about the supports available to you, and start on your recovery journey.
MHFA | Mental Health First Aid provides an extensive list of mental health resources, broken down by categories.
(Mental Health First Aid is a course that teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The training gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem or experiencing a crisis.)
Check the Beaver County System of Care website for MHFA training.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
began a Wellness Initiative in 2016, recognizing that there are Eight Dimensions of Wellness: social, environmental, physical, emotional, spiritual, occupational, intellectual, and financial.
SAMHSA’s free downloadable guide,
CREATING A HEALTHIER LIFE, A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO WELLNESS can help you explore each of the eight dimensions, record your thoughts, and chart your own path towards recovery.