Oftentimes, when the subject of mental health comes up, I hear people talk about it like it’s black and white. Like you are either “Healthy” or “Sick.” Like there is either the presence of a mental disorder, in which case you are “Sick,” or the absence of any diagnosis, in which case you are “Healthy.” 

In almost no other field of humanity do we converse in such strict binaries. There is not only blindness or perfect vision, professional athletes or hospital bed patients. The absence of being sick is not the only way that we define being healthy in any other conversation about healthcare. 

The same is true for mental health.

Now, I know there’s an inherent bias in hearing something like “I’d love it for you if you gave therapy a try” from a therapist, but my intent does not simply come from a deep belief in the work of therapy. It also comes from my wish that it would not take a moment of crisis or crossing the threshold into what we may deem as “Sick” in order to justify our mental health being worth that work in the first place. Therapy is about more than just moving away from the idea of “Sickness.” It is also inclusive of anything that moves us to a noticeable point of feeling “Healthier” rather than just being “not sick.” 

Of course, the difference between those two statements is dependent on defining mental health more as a gradient rather than as a binary. For me, this shift in view also begs another question. 

What things impact our mental health?

There are many things that I believe are factors we all can relate to. In some ways, I would say that like snowflakes, each person may have a unique combination of exact stories and connecting lines along their being. But while each pattern is distinct, they also form in similar ways or share certain characteristics that we can generally predict. 

Something vital to me and the way I approach mental health is by wanting to trace these patterns, find the dots that connect, the things that relate to each other to form a more complete picture. Things like how we fuel and use our bodies, ways we interact with others and ourselves, the values that we hold dear. Any further specifics, of course, would require personal interaction and work. I may know how ice and snowflakes tend to form- but I don’t know you. 

So what now?

One of the biggest points I’d like to make with this focus shift is that if we tune into what things affect our mental health- and maybe even what the ideal for you of “Healthy” looks like when it is no longer defined as “Not Sick”- we change the thresholds we hold onto for when to seek therapy. Even if you don’t feel things are in crisis, are there areas of your life that you’d like to make changes in, but don’t know how or even what, exactly, to change? 

I’d love to see you shift the threshold required to seek mental healthcare and make those ideas valuable enough on their own that you decide it’s worth it to begin the work. You do not need to be fundamentally “Unhealthy” to begin therapy. Only driven to be “better,” however that concept resonates with you.