Mental Health VS Emotional Health: What is the difference?
There is a good chance you know the terms “mental health” and “emotional health” before. You likely use them interchangeably, thinking they are the same thing.
But are they the same? Are they synonyms?
The reality is that they have very different meanings.
Mental health involves processing all the information we encounter. Emotional health is more about the feelings provoked by the data processed. Emotional and mental health are markedly different despite being similar and related to each other.
The terms “mental health” and “emotional health” aren’t interchangeable. They have very different meanings.
Understanding those differences is important so you understand what the people around you are talking about. Understanding the difference is also essential for your well-being.
So when it comes to mental health vs emotional health, what is the difference?
Table of Contents
Mental Health VS Emotional Health
Difference #1: Processing Information Versus Expressing Emotion
Difference #2: One Can Thrive While the Other Struggles
Difference #3: The Scope of the Two Terms
What Is Mental Health?
We hear the phrase “mental health” almost daily, from news reports to casual conversations. However, what does mental health actually mean?
Mental health is mainly about how we think and feel about ourselves. These thoughts and feelings then influence the way we behave. Unhealthy mental habits can lead to things like emotional distress.
Think of mental health as the hardware of your brain whereas emotional health is the software. It is all about how your brain functions.
Mental health influences your thoughts and actions. It affects three main types of well-being:
Psychological
Social
Emotional
The status of your mental health affects many areas of your life. It can affect your ability to manage stress or how you are able to maintain relationships with others. It affects things like decision-making and interactions with others.
There is a wide range of symptoms associated with mental health disorders. These include…
Severe changes in mood
Feeling a lack of energy
Overeating or undereating
Insomnia
Excessive sleeping
Increase use of drugs and alcohol
What Is Emotional Health?
Emotional health means having both an awareness of your emotions and the ability to manage and express those feelings in an age-appropriate manner. It refers to the emotional state of an individual.
External factors, such as stress and trauma, and internal factors, such as attitude and emotional regulation skills, can affect emotional health.
Consider the elements that create emotional health:
Being aware of your emotions
Accepting your feelings
Processing and managing those feelings
Expressing your feelings
In essence, emotional health blends emotional intelligence with emotional regulation.
Ultimately, emotional health plays a role in someone's physical well-being. Positive emotional regulation helps us remain calm in stressful or anxiety-inducing situations.
When you leave emotional problems unchecked, they can manifest themselves into physical ailments. You might start experiencing things like headaches and stomach aches. Emotional regulation can help you manage conflict within relationships, enhance work performance, and increase your overall happiness.
Mental Health VS Emotional Health
People might associate emotional health with someone’s emotional state, such as their level of happiness or satisfaction in life.
In comparison, mental health is more about issues affecting cognitive function. For example, mental health encompasses issues like cognitive disorders or neurological conditions.
It’s important to understand that emotional health and mental health are two different aspects of the same coin.
They both change due to external factors. Life experiences and environment influence emotional health. Mental health often requires a professional’s assessment and intervention.
It’s possible to have good emotional health without having good mental health. That said, it’s also possible for someone to have excellent emotional health and still suffer from mental illness.
So what are the explicit differences between mental illness and emotional health?
Difference #1: Processing Information Versus Expressing Emotion
Mental health is all about how well your mind processes and understands information/experiences.
In contrast, emotional health involves your ability to manage and express emotions, especially those that arise from what you learned and experienced.
Difference #2: One Can Thrive While the Other Struggles
There is an important distinction between mental and emotional health. As I mentioned before, you can experience mental health issues while maintaining good emotional health. The opposite is also true.
For example, while struggling with low energy for daily tasks, you can still exhibit emotional health by finding effective ways to manage that lack of energy.
Difference #3: The Scope of the Two Terms
Mental health is about how well you understand and process your experiences in life. It also includes your ability to carefully reason through decisions and maintain a steady, focused attention span.
The wide scope of mental health puts it in sharp contrast to emotional health. Emotional health has the more focused definition of actively understanding and managing your emotions.
What Can You Do To Improve Emotional and Mental Health?
There are several things you can do to improve your mental and emotional health. These things include…
Eating a balanced diet
Getting regular exercise
Practicing relaxation techniques such as yoga or mindfulness
Avoiding drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products
Talking to friends and family about feelings and struggles
Noting down your symptoms in a tracker log
Seeking professional help if needed
Participating in therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy or counseling
It’s important to remember that mental and emotional health issues are manageable with the right support. It is ok to ask for help if you need it.
But how do you know if your emotional health or mental health is at a point where you should seek help?
There is a tool for that.
Carefully designed by mental health patients for mental health patients, Chartam offers a customizable mental health tool to help you look at your life from a birds-eye perspective.
With a Chartam planner, you can use the customizable indicator log to track symptoms related to your emotional, physical, and psychological health. For example, you could ask yourself…
How did I feel today?
How well did I manage my symptoms of anxiety?
How long did my depression-induced crying spell last?
Did I have self-deprecating thoughts?
Did I manage my desire to self-harm well?
By tracking the frequency and intensity of your symptoms, you can effectively communicate with your doctors about the problems you are experiencing. You can see how well you regulate your emotions and evaluate the quality of your mental health.
Conclusion
When it comes to mental health vs emotional health, what is the difference?
To summarize, mental health involves processing all the information you encounter. Emotional health is more about the feelings provoked by the things you experience in life.
Understanding the differences is essential for your well-being.
To cope with life and relationships in a healthy way, you must balance your thoughts and emotions. If one is out of sorts, it will impact the other.
Understanding how to restore balance is the key to resilience and a higher quality of life.
