I am a mental health advocate. According to Wikipedia.com, mental health is described as, “… either a level of cognitive or emotional wellbeing or an absence of a mental disorder. …mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. Using this definition, one could say that mental health is directly related to a person’s happiness. Many people do not want to admit that they have a mental health problem or don’t know where to turn. In addition to discussing my own journey, I will be addressing other aspects of the mental health continuum.
When your mental health is out of balance, you may begin to feel down or depressed. It is not uncommon for people to feel this way on a short term basis. However, when this feeling does not leave or begins to impair day to day function, it becomes more serious. If the level of sadness is such that it does not go away after a period of time, a person is said to be depressed. Again, referring to Wikipedia.com, “Major depressive disorder, also known as major depression, unipolar depression, unipolar disorder, clinical depression, or simply depression, is a mental disorder characterized by a pervasive low mood and loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities.”
It is at this point a person should seek professional help. There is quite a variety in assistance. If you seek help from a therapist, there are many to choose from. Anyone can use the term therapist, so the things to look for are education and references. There are social workers and licensed clinical social workers. A therapist would then have a degree like a masters in social work or psychology. My counselor has a doctorate degree in psychology, and is called Doctor, but has no medical training. His training is all mental health. My psychiatrist is a medical doctor and has advanced education in psychiatry. He, unlike my counselor, can prescribe medication.
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