Mental Health is a Spectrum

Kimberly Lyall
14 minutes ago
2 min read

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and if you are like me, you are seeing several brave posts on social media where people are sharing their stories of struggle with their mental wellness.

Each story has made me reflect on my own ongoing journey with mental health. In my keynotes I often share about the experiences that prompted the development of my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but I don’t go into a lot of detail about what having that feels like…. because it’s too hard. And frankly, I don’t want to share details that might trigger anyone in my audience who is also struggling.

Here is my reflection after years of navigating highs and lows: Mental health is a spectrum.

On one end you are really sick, without hope or the ability to live independently. On the other end, you can fully experience the emotions from all the experiences in your life - free to feel them deeply and to live in each moment, knowing that you are safe and capable.

There are two key points here.

Notice how I didn’t state that the healthy end of the spectrum is where you are happy all of the time. Happiness as a mental health goal is dangerous and prevents us from actually finding true mental health. The opposite of poor mental health is not happiness - it's the ability to fully experience life, whatever it might bring.

Another damaging belief we have about mental health is that you either have good mental health or bad. The reality is that we will travel back and forth along the spectrum throughout our lives. Some days we will be closer to great mental health, and other days we’ll slide towards the end where we struggle more.

The beauty is that we have the ability to influence where we are on the spectrum. Recognizing that just like for our physical health, the intentional actions we take to support our mental health make all the difference. For example, if you eat nothing but junk food for two weeks and stop getting any exercise, your physical health will reflect that. But when you go back to eating your vegetables and getting exercise, your physical health will improve.

The same philosophy applies to our mental health. If you are consistent in taking action to support your mental health - such as spending time in nature, connecting with friends, journaling, getting enough sleep, talking with a mental health professional, or other actions that work for you - you can keep yourself closer to the healthy end of the spectrum. And when an event happens in your life that challenges your mental health, or you miss doing some of the supportive work and find yourself sliding towards the unhealthy end of the spectrum, you can halt the decline by taking action again (even if that action is simply asking for help).

Maintaining good mental health is a lifetime commitment, and it’s SO worth it!