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In the short term, stress can be helpful. But long-term stress can lead to serious health problems. Learn more about stress and your health.
What you eat may affect your mood and your overall mental health. Learn more.
Physical activity doesn't just keep your heart healthy; it gives your brain a boost, too. Learn more.
A night of bad sleep can leave you feeling grumpy or make it difficult to think. Over time, bad sleep can contribute to serious health problems, including mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. Learn how to improve your sleep habits.
Smoking and using drugs and alcohol may help you cope in the moment, but in the long term, smoking, drugs, and alcohol hurt your mental and physical health. Learn more about alcoholism, substance use disorder, and addiction.
Reach out when you need help. Go to a mental health professional if you need professional support. Find a mental health professional near you. Learn more about how to tell if you have a mental health condition.
Building a network of supportive friends and family, online and offline, can help you stay in good mental health, have fun, and feel connected.
The foods you eat and what you drink can have a direct effect on your energy levels and mood. Researchers think that eating healthier foods can have a positive effect on your mood.1
Eating nutritious foods may not cure a mental health condition, but eating healthy is a good way to start feeling better. Ask your doctor or nurse for more information about the right foods to eat to help keep your mind and body healthy. You can also visit one of these sites for healthy and free recipe ideas and meal plans:
Physical activity can help your mental health in several ways:
Regular physical activity can benefit your health over the long term. Getting active every day (at least 30 minutes a day of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, like brisk walking) helps maintain your health. All Americans should also do strengthening exercises at least 2 days a week to build and maintain muscles.8 Your doctor or nurse may recommend exercise in addition to taking medicine and getting counseling for mental health conditions.
Learn more about how to be active for health.
As you age, your body and brain change. These changes can affect your physical and mental health. Older women may face more stressful living or financial situations than men do, because women live longer on average. They may also have spent more time staying home to raise children or care for loved ones instead of working outside of the home.
In the years leading up to menopause (perimenopause), women may experience shifts in mood because of hormone changes. They may also experience hot flashes, problems sleeping, and other symptoms that can make it harder to deal with stress or other life changes.
Learn more about how aging and menopause affect your mental health.
People who are not physically healthy may have trouble staying mentally healthy. People living with chronic (long-term) health problems such as diabetes and heart disease are often more likely to have higher stress levels, depression, and anxiety.9 Researchers are not sure which problems happen first, but many people have a chronic disease and a mental health condition. Having a chronic disease does not always mean you will have a mental health condition, but if you are struggling with both, know that you are not alone. Support groups and health care professionals can help. Healthy habits, like eating healthy and getting exercise, that help improve many chronic diseases may also help improve mental health conditions.
The chemicals in tobacco and alcohol can change the chemicals in your brain, making you more likely to feel depressed or anxious.10,11 People with mental health conditions are also more likely to smoke and drink alcohol.
Using illegal drugs, or misusing prescription drugs, is also linked to mental health conditions. Researchers are not sure whether drugs can cause mental health conditions, whether mental health conditions cause addiction, or whether both are linked to another health problem. People who have experienced trauma, whether physical or emotional (or both), are more likely to misuse drugs and alcohol.
Two out of every 3 women have experienced at least one serious traumatic or negative event during childhood, increasing their risk of adult health problems, including mental health conditions.12
Women are more likely than men to experience certain types of trauma, such as sexual abuse or assault, and are at higher risk of developing a mental health condition.
Mental health conditions affect women of all races and ethnicities. But your environment — where and how you live — can have an effect on your mental health. Women who grew up in poverty or who live in poverty as adults and women in a sexual minority (such as women who identify as lesbian or bisexual) may be more likely to experience mental health conditions, such as depression.13
No. Many people experience major stress in life, including poverty, unemployment, trauma, abuse, family difficulties, or chronic health problems. Experiencing these stressful situations does not mean you will definitely develop a mental health condition. But if you do experience serious, stressful situations and develop a mental health condition, know that it is not your fault. You can get help and treatment for mental health conditions.
Learning ways to manage stress and reaching out for help when you need it can help you protect your mental health. Learn more about steps you can take to protect your mental health.
For more information about good mental health, call the OWH Helpline at 1-800-994-9662 or check out the following resources from other organizations:
Enter a city, ZIP code (such as 20002), address, state, or place
Embed this widget on your web site
To receive Mental Health email updates
The Office on Women's Health is grateful for the medical review in 2017 by:
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Danielle Johnson, M.D., FAPA, Psychiatrist, Medical Staff President, Chief of Adult Psychiatry, Director, Women’s Mental Health Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati
Cassidy Gutner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine; National Center for PTSD, Women’s Health Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Mark A. Lumley, Ph.D., Professor and Director of Clinical Psychology Training, Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, and his Stress and Health Laboratory team: Jennifer Carty, Heather Doherty, Hannah Holmes, Nancy Lockhart, and Sheri Pegram
Mark Chavez, Ph.D., Chief, Eating Disorders Research Program, NIMH
Kamryn T. Eddy, Ph.D., and Jennifer J. Thomas, Ph.D., Associate Professors of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Co-Directors of the Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital
Kendra Becker, M.S., Clinical Fellow in Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital
Michael Kozak, Ph.D., Division of Adult Translational Research and Treatment Development, NIMH
Alicia Kaplan, M.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Temple University School of Medicine and Drexel University College of Medicine, and Staff Psychiatrist, Division of Adult Services, Department of Psychiatry, Allegheny Health Network, Allegheny General Hospital
All material contained on these pages are free of copyright restrictions and may be copied, reproduced, or duplicated without permission of the Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Citation of the source is appreciated.
Page last updated: August 28, 2018.
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The foods you eat and what you drink can have a direct effect on your energy levels and mood. Researchers think that eating healthier foods can have a positive effect on your mood.1
Eating nutritious foods may not cure a mental health condition, but eating healthy is a good way to start feeling better. Ask your doctor or nurse for more information about the right foods to eat to help keep your mind and body healthy. You can also visit one of these sites for healthy and free recipe ideas and meal plans:
Physical activity can help your mental health in several ways:
Regular physical activity can benefit your health over the long term. Getting active every day (at least 30 minutes a day of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, like brisk walking) helps maintain your health. All Americans should also do strengthening exercises at least 2 days a week to build and maintain muscles.8 Your doctor or nurse may recommend exercise in addition to taking medicine and getting counseling for mental health conditions.
Learn more about how to be active for health.
As you age, your body and brain change. These changes can affect your physical and mental health. Older women may face more stressful living or financial situations than men do, because women live longer on average. They may also have spent more time staying home to raise children or care for loved ones instead of working outside of the home.
In the years leading up to menopause (perimenopause), women may experience shifts in mood because of hormone changes. They may also experience hot flashes, problems sleeping, and other symptoms that can make it harder to deal with stress or other life changes.
Learn more about how aging and menopause affect your mental health.
People who are not physically healthy may have trouble staying mentally healthy. People living with chronic (long-term) health problems such as diabetes and heart disease are often more likely to have higher stress levels, depression, and anxiety.9 Researchers are not sure which problems happen first, but many people have a chronic disease and a mental health condition. Having a chronic disease does not always mean you will have a mental health condition, but if you are struggling with both, know that you are not alone. Support groups and health care professionals can help. Healthy habits, like eating healthy and getting exercise, that help improve many chronic diseases may also help improve mental health conditions.
The chemicals in tobacco and alcohol can change the chemicals in your brain, making you more likely to feel depressed or anxious.10,11 People with mental health conditions are also more likely to smoke and drink alcohol.
Using illegal drugs, or misusing prescription drugs, is also linked to mental health conditions. Researchers are not sure whether drugs can cause mental health conditions, whether mental health conditions cause addiction, or whether both are linked to another health problem. People who have experienced trauma, whether physical or emotional (or both), are more likely to misuse drugs and alcohol.
Two out of every 3 women have experienced at least one serious traumatic or negative event during childhood, increasing their risk of adult health problems, including mental health conditions.12
Women are more likely than men to experience certain types of trauma, such as sexual abuse or assault, and are at higher risk of developing a mental health condition.
Mental health conditions affect women of all races and ethnicities. But your environment — where and how you live — can have an effect on your mental health. Women who grew up in poverty or who live in poverty as adults and women in a sexual minority (such as women who identify as lesbian or bisexual) may be more likely to experience mental health conditions, such as depression.13
No. Many people experience major stress in life, including poverty, unemployment, trauma, abuse, family difficulties, or chronic health problems. Experiencing these stressful situations does not mean you will definitely develop a mental health condition. But if you do experience serious, stressful situations and develop a mental health condition, know that it is not your fault. You can get help and treatment for mental health conditions.
Learning ways to manage stress and reaching out for help when you need it can help you protect your mental health. Learn more about steps you can take to protect your mental health.
For more information about good mental health, call the OWH Helpline at 1-800-994-9662 or check out the following resources from other organizations:
This content is provided by the Office on Women's Health.
A federal government website managed by the Office on Women's Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20201
1-800-994-9662 • Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET (closed on federal holidays).