Mental Health Awareness Month: Why Do We Need to Care About Our Mental Health?
Welcome to May, Mental Health Awareness Month! This is a special month in the year where mental health professionals and organizations take additional time to remind us all about the importance of mental health. That is not to say that professionals and organizations don’t do this all year long because of the importance of mental health in our life. And, yes, our mental health is essential in our daily lives, and that is what this post will focus on. This post will serve as a gentle reminder about why we need to care about mental health, not just our physical health. While we will not be able to cover every reason in depth, nor can we cover every possible topic, hopefully, everyone reading this post renews their commitment to take care of their mental health.
The Mind-Body Connection
This is a topic that this blog has covered multiple times in a variety of ways because of how important it is to understand this concept. People commonly think that mind and body are separate, but they are not. Rather, they are interconnected. As a gentle reminder of the definition of the mind-body connection - the intricate bi-directional relationship between our thoughts, emotions, and physical health (Littrell, 2008). In case we need to look at evidence of this, think about how chronic stress, anxiety, or depression can show up as physical symptoms.
Connection to Others
Our mental health plays a role in how we communicate, set boundaries, engage and empathize with others, and even how we show up in general in interactions. Our actions are connected to our mental state. For example, when we are mentally burned out, we may be more likely to be short, snappy, or irritable in our interactions, which can cause issues even when the relationships we have are well developed (Schneiderman et al., 2005). When we take the time to tune into our mental health we can connect and understand how our emotions and thoughts are impacting our relationships with others and even ourselves.
Cognitive Functioning
This may seem like an obvious statement - Mental health is directly connected to our executive functions (Iqbal et al, 2025; Llewellyn et al., 2008). Executive function is primarily managed by our prefrontal cortex and enables goal-directed behavior like planning, attention, managing emotions, inhibiting impulses, and allowing us to use working memory. These are just a few examples. The translation here is that by taking care of your mental health you can help yourself engage personally and professionally.
Emotional Resilience
Daily life, of course, means that we will have moments of great joy and that we will also face challenges and experience stress. Last month there were four different posts discussing stress that anyone can go back and reference. The final post of the month talked about resilience or the ability to bounce back from a challenging situation. When we take care of our mental health we give ourselves a better chance at accessing our tools to process and move through the experience rather than letting challenges become something that overwhelms us (Krause, 2020). Taking the time to invest in mental health gives us the edge when it comes to challenges.
Quality of Life
When we take care of our mental health, we are able to better experience the feeling of being alive, able to enjoy special moments, find meaning, and stay present in our daily lives. Research continues to show that when we take care of mental health we have longer and more fulfilled lives (Connell et al., 2012). By taking care of mental health we give ourselves the opportunity to thrive rather than survive.
A black and white images. Black tile with white letters spelling out mental health matters.
take action today moment:
Consider what you have just read about why we need to care about our mental health. Do you make your mental health a priority? Why or why not? Are there any changes that you would like to make to make your mental health a priority or maybe even more of a priority? Remember even small steps or changes can make a big difference when it comes to your mental health.
Learn More About mental health:
References
Connell, J., Brazier, J., O'Cathain, A., Lloyd-Jones, M., & Paisley, S. (2012). Quality of life of people with mental health problems: A synthesis of qualitative research. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 10, 138. https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-10-138
Littrell, J. (2008). The mind-body connection: Not just a theory anymore. Social Work in Health Care, 46(4), 17-37. https://doi.org/10.1300/J010v46n04_02
Iqbal, S., Waqas, M., Yong, M. H., McGarrigle, R., & Vaportzis, E. (2025). The association between mental health and cognitive ability: Evidence from the Understanding Society survey. PloS One, 20(10), e0318910. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318910
Krause, K. D. (2020). The impact of resilience on health: Lessons learned and future directions. Behavioral Medicine, 46(3–4), 375–378. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2020.1790975
Llewellyn, D. J., Lang, I. A., Langa, K. M., & Huppert, F. A. (2008). Cognitive function and psychological well-being: findings from a population-based cohort. Age and Ageing, 37(6), 685–689. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afn194
Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). Stress and health: Psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 607–628. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144141