Our thoughts and feelings are important, as they influence our decisions and the actions we might take. They affect how we respond to life’s challenges. When we have good mental wellbeing, we are likely to be better able to respond to and recover from difficult times.
Our actions can also influence our thoughts and feelings. Making time for the people and activities that make us feel good is important for protecting our mental wellbeing. It helps to top up our mental and emotional energy and keeps our brains functioning well.
How it differs from mental health
Mental wellbeing differs from mental health, which is often used to refer to the presence or absence of a mental illness.
We can still enjoy good mental wellbeing alongside a diagnosis of a physical or mental illness.
This diagram shows the dual continuum model. This shows how mental wellbeing and physical and/or mental health can vary independently.
For example, we can have good mental wellbeing alongside having a mental or physical health condition. Or we can have poor mental wellbeing when we are physically healthy and don’t have a mental health diagnosis.
Having a sense of meaning, purpose and belonging
Mental wellbeing relates to how we feel about life, ourselves and how we respond to our emotions.
Having good mental wellbeing isn’t about being happy all the time. It’s important to allow ourselves to feel the whole range of emotions.
Mental wellbeing is about having a sense of meaning, purpose and belonging. Having good mental wellbeing helps us to respond to and recover from life’s challenges, which will inevitably come.
Getting us through the good and bad
Making time for people and activities that help us feel good and appreciating what we’re thankful for can boost our mood. This helps protect and improve our mental wellbeing, even when we are experiencing difficult times.
When times get tough
We will all go through difficult times. We can learn from these experiences, helping us to and grow and understand ourselves and other people better.
It’s important to be kind to ourselves during hard times, avoiding self-doubt or blame, and seeking support when needed. This helps us cope and protects our mental wellbeing.
Why it’s important
Improving our mental wellbeing can reduce the risk of developing common mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression. It can also help our bodies stay healthy.
People with good mental wellbeing enjoy better physical health, including a healthier heart, digestive system and immune system.
Looking after our mental wellbeing is just as important as looking after our physical health
We might think of our mental health and wellbeing as the health of our brain, an organ in our body which deserves looking after just like any other. The brain is a highly complicated organ that is constantly filtering and making sense of a huge amount of information from our surroundings. It is also central to regulating how we think, feel and act, as well as our whole range of bodily functions.
When we are feeling good and functioning well, we are more likely to look after our physical health. We’re also less likely to take part in health-harming behaviours such as drinking too much alcohol or smoking.
But it’s much more than just about our health behaviours. When we are feeling low – such as feeling stressed or anxious – our brain and nervous system are less able to effectively regulate the normal functioning of both our bodies and our minds. For example – stress, especially over a prolonged period of time, reduces how well our immune system responds to infections. It can also negatively impact the health of our heart and digestive system.
Taking actions to reduce feelings of stress and boost our wellbeing can help keep our body and mind feeling good and functioning well.
Boost your mental wellbeing
Discover a range of simple and useful resources that can help improve your mental wellbeing.
Wellbeing toolsWhat affects mental wellbeing?
Find out more about what influences our mental wellbeing.
Explaining wellbeing
