What is mental health? A simple guide to the mind and who can help

Mental health explained in simple words: what it means, how it differs from mental illness, who psychologists, psychiatrists and counsellors are, and how conditions are assessed.

Chapters on this topic

Chapter 1: What Is Mental Health?

Chapter 2: Psychology, Psychiatry and Counselling

Three doors, one person: Whichever professional you see, what helps is their method and an honest relationship, not the room. The method is what happens between two people who agree to tell the truth slowly.

Chapter 33: How Mental Health Conditions Are Assessed and Diagnosed

A map, not a verdict

Chapter 35: Maps, Thinkers and How to Use This Book

Maps, thinkers and a guide to reading

Stories from real life (19)

The Quiet Room at Number Twelve – Meera was sixteen and, until about two months ago, the loudest person in her house. She sang while doing homework, argued about cricket with…
What Will People Say? – Rohan, thirty-four, was a sales manager in Pune who had not slept properly for months. He woke at four every morning with a racing…
Missing Her, Slowly Healing – Mrs Annamma Joseph was seventy and had lost her husband of forty-five years in March. By June she was still crying most evenings, and…
The Headaches That Had No Field – Ramesh, forty-eight, farmed three acres in a village in Vidarbha. After two failed monsoons and a loan he could not repay, he began to…
Riya, Age 22 – Riya used to enjoy college and friends. Over three months, she began sleeping late, skipping meals, and missing classes. She felt tired, irritable, and…
The Uncle Who Only Said “Tension” – Uncle Sharma retired, lost two friends, sat facing a television he did not watch, ate less, and snapped at his wife. Relatives said he…
Lamp And Clinic In The Same Week – Leela’s mother believed that if the Tuesday fast was kept and Hanuman Chalisa recited, the daughter’s voices would leave. The voices stayed. Sleep left.…
A Child Who Would Not Go To School – Arjun, nine, had Monday stomach-aches and tears at the gate. Adults said he was stubborn. A school counsellor asked about sleep, bullying, and a…
Who Should We See First? – Anita, twenty-six, had been having panic attacks on her commute to Bengaluru for three months. Her heart pounded, her hands tingled and she was…
A Door Closes, a Room Opens – Daniel was fifty-two, a regional manager in Nairobi, when his company closed its office and he was let go after twenty-three years. For weeks…
The Man with the Guaranteed Cure – Sunita's twenty-year-old son Vikas had been hearing whispers and becoming suspicious of the neighbours. He stopped studying and stayed awake at night. Frightened, Sunita…
Second Opinions and Small Pills of Fear – Kwame, thirty, lived in Accra and had been through a long stretch of low mood, poor sleep and no appetite. His family doctor sent…
The Wrong Door – Imagine a father who is terrified. His son has not slept a single minute in four straight days. His mind is racing, his body…
Licence Before Sofa – Imagine a woman suffering from sudden, terrifying panic attacks. Her heart races, her chest tightens, and she feels like she is losing her mind.…
Eleven Questions, One Long Breath – Nomvula, forty-one, had put off her first appointment with a psychiatrist in Durban for six months. She was afraid the doctor would judge her…
Seventy-Four Per Cent on the Internet – Aiden, twenty, a university student in Melbourne, found a video called 'Signs you have ADHD' and a quiz that gave him a score of…
Thyroid, Not Just Nerves – Marta, thirty-eight, an accountant in Warsaw, had been anxious for months. Her heart raced, her hands trembled, she lost weight, and she could not…
A Diagnosis That Changed – Hamid, twenty-seven, from Birmingham, was diagnosed with depression two years ago after a long low period. A medicine helped for a few months. Then…
Maya Will Not Sit Still, Or Is It More? – Maya, eight, in Hyderabad, had been called lazy and careless by her teacher. She lost her things, stared out of the window and sometimes…

Shloks (13)

Bhagavad Gita 2.38 – Holding pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as equal, prepare for the work in front of you; thus, you will not…
Sushruta Samhita, Sutra Sthana 15.41 – One whose fundamental energies (doshas) and digestive fire are balanced, whose tissues and eliminations work well, and whose self, senses and mind are clear…
Bhagavad Gita 6.5 – Lift the self by the self; do not let the self-sink. The self is the friend of the self, and the self is the…
Bhagavad Gita 6.16–17 – Yoga is not for one who overeats or who starves, nor for one who sleeps too much or never sleeps. For the one whose…
Bhagavad Gita 5.18 – The wise see the same in a learned and humble brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and one who cooks a dog.
Bhagavad Gita 2.56 – The one whose mind is not overthrown in sorrow, who does not run after pleasure, who is free from grasping, fear and anger —…
Amritabindu Upanishad, verse 2 – The mind alone is the cause of bondage and of freedom for human beings. Attached to objects it binds; free of objects it is…
Bhagavad Gita 2.50 – The one joined to wisdom leaves behind both good and bad results here. Therefore, take up yoga. Yoga is skill in action
Bhagavad Gita 4.34 – Know that by approaching with respect, by questioning, and by service. Those who see reality will teach you that knowledge.
Tirukkural 129 – The wound burnt by fire will heal inside. The scar burnt by the tongue will not.
Bhagavad Gita 14.5 – Sattva, rajas, and tamas — qualities born of material nature (prakriti) — bind the eternal soul to the body, O mighty-armed Arjuna.
Bhagavad Gita 4.34 – Know that by approaching with respect, by questioning, and by service. Those who see will teach you.
Bhagavad Gita 2.47 – Your claim is to action alone, never to its fruits. Do not make the fruit the motive, and do not cling to inaction.