Are mental health and mental illness the same?
No, your mental health is much more than the absence of mental illness. For example, you can have poor mental health but not be mentally ill, or you can be diagnosed as mentally ill and have good mental health.
Mental health is a continuum; from having good mental health to having poor mental health, and from having no diagnosis of mental illness, to having a diagnosis of mental illness, and a person’s position on this continuum will vary throughout their lives. A person in good mental health will feel in control of their life, their emotions, they will feel productive, have good cognitive functioning, and will have positive interactions with people around them. A person in good mental health will perform well at work, in their studies, with their family and personal relationships. A person with poor mental health will struggle with many, if not all of these things. The term Mental Illness is only used when a person has a specific diagnosed condition, such as depression or anxiety.
