Back disorders involve issues with vertebrae, joints, or discs, causing pain from mild to severe. Common in adults, they often recur but are rarely serious, usually resolving on their own.
Understanding what mental health means can help you find out how to promote positive mental health in your own life and community.
In truth, the term "mental health" is more complex. Mental health is about how we think, feel, and act. It's our emotional and psychological wellbeing, helping us handle stress, relate to others, and make decisions.
Experts believe that positive mental health is made up of these 5 areas:
- Your ability to enjoy life
- Your ability to deal with life events
- Your capacity to feel and regulate your emotions
- Your spirituality or sense of purpose and meaning
- Your sense of belonging to your community
Because mental health is quite complex, it can be influenced by many factors, including:
- Personal factors like your personality type and lifestyle choices
- Your family history and genetics
- Your living environment, which can include the community around you or cultural factors
- Your social environment, including the relationships that you have with your friends, family, and others
- Your work environment, such as working conditions and workplace dynamics
Positive mental health does not mean living without a mental health condition. You could have poor mental health even if you don't have a mental health condition, or vice-versa. What's important to recognize is that positive mental health is possible for everyone.
Why is Positive Mental Health Important?
People who have positive mental health are more likely to be resilient, which means that they're more capable at handling problems and challenges more easily. In turn, resiliency can improve your physical health as you're more likely to be able to manage stress in a healthy manner, strengthening your immune system.
On a broader level, promoting positive mental health can:
- create an open culture around mental health
- reduce the risk of developing some mental health problems and lower suicide rates
- strengthen communities and stimulate positive interactions
Promoting Positive Mental Health
With all the factors that can influence our mental health, it can be challenging to know what you can do as an individual. Whether you're looking to help promote positive mental health for others or make strides in improving your own mental health, there are measures that we can all try.
Improving your mental health:
- Understand yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your talents and interests? The more that you know about yourself, the better that you're able to make decisions during difficult situations or during major life changes.
- Make healthy choices. Every kind of lifestyle habit can impact our life differently. Aim to get plenty of rest, eat a balanced diet, and stay active regularly. Do your best to limit unhealthy behaviours like excessive caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco intake.
- Learn about emotions and stress. Stress and other emotions are an inevitable part of life. By learning to recognize when you're feeling emotional, it can make it easier to find coping strategies to regulate your emotions and stress.
- Stay connected. When faced with adversity, we tend to use coping methods that either help us overcome the problem or to avoid the situation altogether. Talking to someone you trust like a friend, co-worker, or a mental health professional can make a big difference. It’s a simple but powerful way to manage stress and unwanted emotions.
Promoting positive mental health:
- Organize community events. There's always ways to help people feel included in your community. Try organizing a community cook-out or barbecue or starting your own reading club.
- Connecting with your kids. Life experiences can challenge youth just as much as adults. Take time to listen to their feelings and experiences, encourage them to see life experiences as learning opportunities, and above all else, give them your time and support. Consider creating and monitoring safe play areas for your children.
- Understand mental health in the workplace. Talking about mental health in the workplace can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to. There are great resources, like the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and Workplace Strategies for Mental Health that can help you learn about the factors that affect mental health in the workplace and what they can do to promote positive mental health, such as.
By understanding and knowing how to promote positive mental health, we can build happier communities where everyone can live their lives to the fullest.
All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2025. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/healthfeature/gethealthfeature/Understanding-and-Practicing-Positive-Mental-Health
