Why Recognizing Mental Health Struggles Is A Sign Of Strength
May is Mental Health Awareness month. To learn more about the importance of mental health I was joined by therapist Liz Reihm from Rejuv Medical. Reihm says mental health is a person's emotional, psychological and social well being. It affects everything about how we think, how we feel and how we react to others. Reihm says how we deal with our mental health can impact our stress level and physical health.
Reihm says we often focus on our physical health while mental health struggles can go unnoticed or unaddressed for quite awhile until they impact daily functioning. She explains it is important that awareness is raised about this because in the past many individuals would keep their mental health struggles to themselves.
Reihm believes there had been a stigma about mental illness and that stigma has lessoned over the years and these challenges have been more acceptable. She says mental illness had been viewed more as a weakness and it really isn't. Reihm believes recognizing mental health struggles should be considered a strength and not a weakness in a person.
Types of mental illness include depression, anxiety, excessive fear or panic, and post traumatic stress disorder. Reihm indicates PTSD is when a negative event affects how a person views their world. This can include events at war, and physical and sexual abuse. She says how we think is how we are going to act and interact with others. Reihm explains mental health begins at child birth and continues through adulthood.
If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Liz, it is available below.
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