Why You Should Prioritize Your Mental Health

As we come to the end of Mental Health Awareness Month, I want to talk about prioritizing your mental health.  We give a lot of attention to physical health checkups, gym memberships, and healthy eating, but mental health often gets pushed to the back burner.  It’s time to talk about why that has to change.

Imagine you broke your leg, and someone told you, “Just push through it — it’s not that serious.” You’d probably look at them like they’d lost their mind. Yet just let it go, or it will be fine, are often statements we say to ourselves or to others about their mental health. We dismiss, minimize, and rationalize away the care our minds genuinely need. 

According to SAMHSA’s 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 23.4% of U.S. adults reported any mental illness in the past year. Anxiety disorders are among the most common, affecting an estimated 40 million Americans in 2025 (19% of adults 18+).  Depression rates are similar; in 2022, approximately 21% of adults in a CDC study reported having had symptoms. 

One of the most persistent myths about mental health is that it’s separate from your physical health.  More specifically, the two operate in different lanes and don’t affect each other much. Modern science has put that idea firmly to rest.  Yet the science says otherwise.  For example, the CDC reported that people who have depression are at higher risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and osteoporosis, among other chronic conditions. Also, the relationship is bidirectional. Chronic physical illness significantly raises the risk of developing depression or anxiety. 

Other whole health considerations are the following:

🫀Heart disease: Depression is a recognized independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and cardiac events.

🩸Diabetes: People with diabetes are two to three times more likely to develop depression; untreated, each condition worsens the other.

🧠 Cognitive decline: Untreated mental illness and chronic social isolation are associated with accelerated cognitive aging.

😷 Immune function: Chronic stress and depression suppress immune response, making people more vulnerable to illness.

So why do so many people ignore or minimize mental health care?  Besides the stigma, cost.  I’ve often heard people say that they don’t have money for psychotherapy and that it costs too much.  Perhaps, but a question I propose asking yourself is, are you prioritizing your mental health?

A WHO-led study published in The Lancet Psychiatry analyzed mental health investment across 36 countries and found that every $1 invested in treatment for depression and anxiety yields a $4 return.  That is, the return on investment showed better health and improved ability to work. 

Treating the mind helps protect the whole body.  Consider the hidden costs of not treating your mental health: missed workdays, reduced performance, strained relationships, worsened physical health, and potentially more expensive interventions down the road if a manageable issue becomes a crisis. Prevention is almost always less expensive than crisis care.  Sure, spending money on the Starbucks run and Target haul might provide immediate satisfaction, but the impact is brief.  Investing in yourself and psychotherapy will have long-term positive benefits.

Your mental health is not a luxury add-on. It’s not something to earn or reserve for when things get really bad. It’s a fundamental part of your health, your relationships, your work, and your life. You are worth it.  Start somewhere. Start small. Start today.

Sources

Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). Facts & Statistics. adaa.org. https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics

SAMHSA (2004). 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/data-we-collect/nsduh-national-survey-drug-use-and-health/national-releases/2024  

Canadian Mental Health Association (2026). https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/the-relationship-between-mental-health-mental-illness-and-chronic-physical-conditions/

Center for Disease Control (2026). https://www.cdc.gov/mental-health/about/index.html

Chisholm, D., Sweeny, K., Sheehan, P., Rasmussen, B., Smit, F., Cuijpers, P., & Saxena, S. (2016). Scaling-up treatment of depression and anxiety: a global return on investment analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(5), 415-424.

Terlizzi, E. P., & Zablotsky, B. (2024). Symptoms of anxiety and depression among adults: United States, 2019 and 2022. In National Health Statistics Reports [Internet]. National Center for Health Statistics (US).