What is mental health?
Mental health is your emotional, psychological (cognitive), and social well-being. It impacts how you feel on most days and how you cope with difficult thoughts or experiences. It can also affect how connected you feel to others and how you manage emotions.
There are many things that can impact mental health, including past traumas, stress, and/or unexpected events. Our mental health can change throughout our life. It’s important to take care of our mental health and pay attention to it, just like we take care of our physical health.
Some common mental health treatments are psychotherapy (or talk therapy) and medication. People often use a combination of these two.
What are some things that can affect your mental health?
Every person’s mental health is unique. Below are just examples of things that can impact your mental health.
| Work stress | Work-related stressors could be physical and mental demands of work. Like deadlines, workload, workplace atmosphere, hours or duration of work, and little or no paid time-off. Some common signs of work-related stress are:
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| Trauma | Often when people hear the word "trauma,” they think of life-changing experiences like violent crimes, military combat, sexual assault, or other significant events, otherwise known as big “T” traumas. Traumas can also be small “t” traumas, like losing a job, going through a divorce, losing child custody, or going through a breakup. Little “t” traumatic events can still cause personal problems and mental health challenges over time, especially as they add up year after year. |
| Relationships | Your relationships with family, friends, coworkers, and others can have a direct impact on your mood and mental health. Breakups, arguments, divorce, ended friendships, death, and grief can cause both stress and depression. Your mental health and actions can also impact the health of your relationships. |
| Finances and housing | Inflation, high costs of housing, childcare, and other bills can create ongoing stress, which then impacts your mental health. You are not alone if you’re experiencing these stressors. |
| Racism and discrimination | Men of color often carry a heavier mental health burden because of the negative effects of racism and bigotry. Race-based prejudice can cause big “T” and little “t” trauma. When men of color are discriminated against—treated differently and unfairly—the compound effect can lead to increased stress, low self-esteem, depression, and even reduced cognitive function. |
What is behavioral health?
Behavioral health is an umbrella term. It refers to our emotional, mental, and social wellness. This includes behaviors and actions like substance use and our relationships with others.
What are some common behavioral health challenges?
Anxiety
Anxiety is something that exists within all of us, but not everyone experiences anxiety in the same way. Sometimes, anxiety can feel like:
- Being tense or “worked up"
- Difficulty focusing on tasks
- Avoiding situations that may cause anxiety
- Increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and sweating
- Constantly being anxious or worried, stressed, and nervous could be a sign that anxiety is a problem
High levels of anxiety can trigger “fight, flight, and freeze” response. Extremely high levels of anxiety can also cause panic attacks.
Stress isn’t the same as anxiety, but it can be hard to tell the difference between the two. Stress is a response to an outside cause, like an argument or demands at work. Anxiety is usually a persistent feeling of worry that doesn’t go away, even if there’s not something happening in that moment.
There are several types of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety, or panic disorder. There are treatments for anxiety that can help.
| Take a generalized anxiety screener |
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| If you think you might be experiencing high levels of anxiety (constant worry, stress, or nervousness) you can take a free self-screener and then see resources that may help. This screener is an expert-approved, standard screener used to screen for anxiety. All responses are confidential. |
Depression
Depression isn’t the same as feeling sad occasionally. Depression is a chronic (ongoing) condition that involves a change in brain chemistry. This change often occurs because of life events and triggers, but not in every case.
Some signs of depression can be:
- Feeling deeply sad over time (typically 2 weeks or more)
- Losing interest in preferred activities
- Trouble sleeping or oversleeping
- Loss of appetite
- Feelings of worthlessness and shame
- Being angry and irritable
- Thoughts of self-harm or suicide
Depression can make it hard for someone to do daily tasks and can impact the person’s interactions with family and friends.
Like many mental health conditions, depression isn’t something you can just “get over.” You don’t have to try and deal with it on your own. There are effective treatments for depression, including therapy and medication.
| Take a depression screener |
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| If you think you might be experiencing depression, you can take a free self-screener and then see resources that may help. This screener is an expert-approved, standard screener used to screen for depression. All responses are confidential. |
Trauma and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
Trauma affects everyone differently. There is no one-size-fits all to experiencing traumatic events.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition where someone has difficulty recovering from experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. This can last months or years.
Symptoms are different for everyone, but signs of PTSD can often include:
- Flashbacks or intrusive thoughts of the event (or reliving it over and over in your head)
- Avoiding thoughts, feelings, or anything that is a reminder of the trauma
| Take a PTSD screener |
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| If you think you might be experiencing PTSD, you can take a free self-screener and then see resources that may help. This screener is an expert-approved, standard screener used to screen for PTSD. All responses are confidential. |
Addiction (substance use disorder)
Substance use disorder is a pattern of continued use of alcohol or drugs despite continued problems because of using the substance(s). Problems from substance use could potentially include being late or missing work, legal issues, fighting with friends or family, or financial issues.
Some common signs of addiction (substance use disorder) are:
- Cravings
- Wanting to stop but not being able to
- Increased tolerance for a substance
- Negative effects on daily life and relationships
If you’re experiencing addiction, you’re not alone. Our society has sometimes put substance use, like drinking, in a glorified light (i.e., shown it as cool or celebrated). There are also societal norms about being “a man” or masculine that show substance use as part of that.
Heavy use of drugs or alcohol, especially when we are young, can impact our brain development and increase our risk for addiction.
Addiction can be treated and there are many paths to recovery from addiction or substance use disorder. You can get connected to support for addiction online from the Massachusetts Substance Use Helpline. You can also call the Helpline at (800) 327-5050 or text HOPE to 700327.
| Take a general substance use screener |
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If you think you might be experiencing addiction, you can take a free self-screener and then see resources that may help. These screeners are expert-approved, standard screeners used to screen for substance use disorder. All responses are confidential. Screenings specific to alcohol use and opioid use are also available. |
Problem gambling
Gambling can be a serious issue that gets in the way of goals and interferes with healthy relationships. Signs of problem gambling may include:
- Needing to gamble with increasing amounts of money to feel excitement
- Feeling restless or irritable when trying to cut down or stop gambling
- Gambling when feeling distressed, helpless, or depressed
- Risking the loss of significant relationships, jobs, education, or other opportunities
To get connected to support for a gambling problem from Massachusetts Problem Gambling Helpline, call (800) 327-5050.
| Take problem gambling screener |
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| If you think you may have a problem with gambling, you can take a take a free self-screener and then see resources that may help. This screener is an expert-approved, standard screener used to screen for problem gambling. All responses are confidential. |
Where can I find treatment?
Find mental health treatment
Looking for mental health treatment like therapy or peer support groups? Learn how to connect to care near you.