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Your mental health affects your physical health—like sometimes when you’re sad or down, you feel tired or don’t have energy to do things. It affects a lot of other things too, like how you think, work, cope with stress, make choices, and act with people.

Just like how everyone gets sick or injured at some point, everyone deals with a mental health issue at some point too. Sometimes it’s caused by big things—like someone in your family might die or you might break up with someone. Other times, it could be a bunch of little things that build up. And even other times, there might be no obvious reason at all. Sometimes people just get sick even though they take care of themselves really well. It’s the same with mental health.

Whatever it is, it doesn’t mean you’re crazy or weak or less smart. And just like how there are ways to feel better when you have a physical problem, like medicine or physical therapy, there are ways to improve your mental health too. You can talk to friends or people who care about you, learn ways to keep yourself calm, maybe even talk to a doctor or counselor. Sometimes it’s easy to feel better again, and other times it takes awhile.