Understanding Mental Health

Mental health is a positive state of mind and body, feeling safe and able to cope, with a sense of connection with people, communities and the wider environment.

Mental health problems are a broad set of difficulties people can experience that have some negative impact on their day to day functioning. They tend to involve some combination of abnormal thoughts, emotions, behaviours and relationships with others.

There are many different types of mental health problems. Different labels and classification systems are used in different countries to diagnose and group mental health problems. Two widely used classification manuals are the ICD-10 and DSM-5. Using your country’s preferred diagnostic system may allow for improved communication with mental health professionals.