Your mental health is important

Your mental health is about your state of mind and how you feel about yourself. Just like physical health, it’s an important part of your overall health and wellbeing.

If your mental health is good, it means you are coping with life; you can get things done and feel like an active and contributing member of the community you live in.

Life can be hard

There are many situations and circumstances that can affect your mental health, and make it difficult to stay strong, such as:

• problems with families and relationships
• feeling separated from your culture and identity
• feeling like you’re being discriminated against
• feeling unsafe because of violence around you
• troubles with work, or with finding work
• having a long-term health problem
• having an insufficient income
• living in poor housing conditions
• lacking access to transport
• having a drug or alcohol problem

It’s important to look after your mental health, especially when times are tough. As well as helping yourself as much as you can, it is important to ask other people for help if you need a hand. (See ‘Getting help and healing’)

Things you can do

There are some simple things you can do to support your mental health and help you stay strong. A few tips for maintaining good mental health include:

• eating healthy food
• getting enough sleep
• exercising every day
• staying connected to your family
• staying connected to your land and community
• valuing your culture and spirituality

Mental illness

Everyone has ups and downs. Everyone feels sad or angry or hopeless at times. But if you’re having trouble coping, or feel broken or sad a lot of the time, this could be a sign of a mental illness such as depression or anxiety.

Most mental illnesses can be effectively treated or managed, so if you have a problem and seek help, there’s every chance that your condition will improve.

There are also online resources that can provide more tips for good mental health and apps for building wellbeing.