This page explains about what we mean by mental health and emotional well-being.

We have tried to design these pages so that they don't overwhelm you with too much information – but if you want to know more, there are details of other websites you may find helpful.

This page gives you some ideas of the things you might need to look out for to look after your emotional well-being and mental health...

What do we mean by mental health?

There is often a lot of confusion about what we mean when we talk about mental health. Many people immediately start thinking about negative images of illness – but this is only one part of the picture...

Everyone has ‘mental health’ and this can be thought of in terms of:

• how we feel about ourselves and the people around us
• our ability to make and keep friends and relationships
• our ability to learn from others and to develop psychologically and emotionally.

Being mentally healthy is also about having the strength to overcome the difficulties and challenges we can all face at times in our lives – to have confidence and self-esteem, to be able to take decisions and to believe in ourselves.

Dealing with life's ups and downs

Having said that we all have mental health, it’s also important to understand when you might need to get some help or support with how you are feeling – or to know when perhaps you may be experiencing a more serious problem.

It is quite normal to sometimes feel worried, anxious or upset when things don’t go as you hope – everyone faces pressure in their lives at certain times and these can include:

• exams
• work and getting a job
• growing up and becoming more independent from your family
• making up (and breaking up) with friends. You can find other info sheets at www.rethink.org/ youngpeople if you are feeling stressed or under pressure from any of these things.

Knowing when to get help and advice

Mental health problems affect many more young people than you probably realise:

• national studies suggest that in the UK, about 1 in 10 (10%) of all young people may experience a mental health problem or disorder where they may need help from a mental health specialist
• these studies also emphasise that it’s important to get help early, that these conditions are treatable and that getting help early can help prevent difficulties getting more serious
• there are many different types of mental health problems and disorders and they affect young people differently and last for different lengths of time.

What to look out for?

If someone is experiencing worries, anxieties and difficult feelings to the extent that they are seriously interfering with their everyday life (e.g. being able to study and go to school; being able to eat or sleep as they normally do; to go out with their friends or take part in their favourite hobby) and these feelings are becoming persistent, (lasting for a few weeks or more), then it might be that they have a mental health problem or disorder and need to get some advice and help.

The What are mental health disorders? page provides some brief descriptions of some of the mental health disorders that young people can experience. There are also suggestions of websites where you can get more detailed information or can send in questions by email.