Mental health is a key part of overall health and wellbeing. It impacts the way you feel, think and act across the day and has secondary impacts on the way you perceive relationships, work, stress and everyday life.

Good mental health strategies help you and your family deal with life’s challenges. Just like with physical health and moving your body, looking after your mental health is important at every age. Take steps to support your mental health and wellbeing.

Understanding mental health

Just like physical health, mental health is a normal part of what makes us human. It impacts our personality, how we think, feel and act throughout our lives.

When talking about mental health, people are usually referencing mental ill health or mental health conditions such as:

• anxiety
• depression
• bipolar disorder
• eating disorder
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• post-natal depression
• schizophrenia

Who is most at risk?

Some groups are more likely to experience mental ill health throughout their lives, including:

• men
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• people living in regional or remote areas
• teenagers and young adults
• older adults
• people living with a physical illness
• people living with a disability
• people with a history of substance use
• people who identify as LGBTIQ+
• people who are unemployed or living in poverty
• people who are isolated or have low community connections.

Mental ill health can affect anyone, at any time. Sometimes there is a clear reason, and sometimes it can happen unexpectedly.