Mental health is more than just talking about mental health conditions, like anxiety or depression.
Research shows that good mental health is linked to:
- improved learning
- creativity
- higher levels of productivity
- better social relationships
- good physical health
- increased life expectancy.
Mental health definition
Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins
our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in.
(World Health Organisation)
The mental health continuum
It can be hard to talk about mental health. Maybe your family and friends feel uncomfortable talking about it. Maybe you don't know where to start or how it relates to you.
We've developed the mental health continuum to help you talk about social and emotional wellbeing. It will give you the words to describe how you're feeling, and to ask how others are feeling. It can also help you decide what steps to take to look after
your mental health right now.

Why a mental health continuum?
Our mental health can change gradually over time. We might start to feel unsettled, but move back to feeling healthy in a few days. Or we might move from feeling unsettled to really struggling. This is when we may need to seek professional support.
Many of us will experience a mental health crisis in our lives, but we don't stay in crisis. We'll move beyond the crisis into a period of healing and then another healthy period when we've recovered.
On this page we explain what each of these periods looks like and what you can do to maintain or improve your mental health.