Mental Health vs Emotional Health - What's the difference?
Mental health and emotional health (also sometimes called emotional wellbeing) are terms that are often used interchangeably; while they’re definitely related to each other, there’s a few differences between the two.
Put simply, mental health is your brain’s hardware - it’s how you process all the information we come across.
We love the World Health Organisation’s definition of mental health:
"Mental health is a state of mental wellbeing that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and wellbeing that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in."
If mental health is the hardware, emotional health is the software - it’s how you feel about the data being processed.
On the other hand, emotional health is about being aware of how you feel, understanding those feelings, and being cool with it. When you're tuned into your emotions, you can also notice how your body reacts. The more you pay attention to your feelings, the better you get at handling them.
Why is emotional health important?
Your emotions influence your daily decisions and actions. Just as not exercising enough, eating too much unhealthy food, and not getting enough sleep can mess up your physical health, the same goes for your emotions. When your emotional well-being takes a hit, you might end up with unhealthy strategies to escape the tough feelings. It's common to want to change or numb your emotions, but using unhealthy coping strategies can actually make your emotional health worse.
When your emotions aren't doing well, it affects everything. Your sleep might go haywire, you might start avoiding people, and your performance at school or work may decline. Remember, you can't dodge every unpleasant emotion - that's just part of being human. But you can prepare yourself to handle whatever life throws at you.
How can I improve my emotional health?
Learning to sit comfortably with emotions (including the unpleasant ones) takes time and practice. There are things you can do to improve your emotional health, like:
- Strengthening your social connections
- Maintaining good physical health
- Getting enough downtime to rest and recover
- Relaxing through activities you enjoy
- Being kind to yourself through compassion and self-care
- Focusing on positive news in your social feed
- Speaking up when you’re going through a difficult time
Being emotionally well doesn’t necessarily mean an absence of mental ill-health, or that you’re happy all the time, but rather, that you’re self-aware of your feelings and able to take action to feel better in the hard times.
batyr is a youth mental health organisation driven by young people for young people. We empower young people to take charge of their mental health early and often.
The information on this page is intended as a general guide only and is not a substitute for professional, personalised mental health support.
If you need support, visit our Get Support page for a comprehensive list of free, confidential mental health services available to you.