77 Inspirational Quotes on Mental Health and Mental Illness

Do you need some inspiration to get through the tough phases in life? Do not worry, we’ve got your back, we’ve rounded up some inspirational mental health quotes and sayings, proverbs including images and pictures).

Some words of encouragement can get a great change for all of you seeking professional help to gain your balance of mind and dealing with mental illness. Hope this strikes the right cord and helps you lead a happy and positive life.

Mental health refers to our psychological, emotional, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It determines how we handle our mental stigmas, anxiety, and stress in life.

Having a positive mental health is imperative for every stage in life from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. To live a meaningful life, realize your full potential and add productivity to work you must have a healthy mindset. These are encouraging words about overcoming obstacles, seeking help, and stopping shame.

Famous Mental Health Quotes by Authors & Celebrities

“The only journey is the journey within.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
“No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.” – Buddha
“This feeling will pass. The fear is real but the danger is not.”― Cammie McGovern
“Self-esteem is not a luxury; it is a profound spiritual need.”― Nathaniel Branden
“Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all.”- Bill Clinton
“I’m struggling just to get through the days. I think a lot of people are.” — Justin Bieber
“I’ve run my whole life – for more than exercise, for mental health.” – Wendelin Van Draanen
“What mental health needs are more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” – Glenn Close
“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.” — Albus Dumbledore
“A child’s mental health is just as important as their physical health and deserves the same quality of support.” – Kate Middleton
“Mental health…is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you’re going.” – Noam Shpancer
“Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.”— Charles Bukowski
“Mental health is often missing from public health debates even though it’s critical to wellbeing.” – Diane Abbott
“Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.” – Joubert Botha
“Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It’s the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with.” – Adam Ant
“It is not the the bruises on the body that hurt. It is the wounds of the heart and the scars on the mind.”― Aisha Mirza
“Don’t let the mental images of what’s “supposed to be”, take away your right to “just be”. Always remember that.” ― C. JoyBell C.
“The only thing more exhausting than having a mental illness is pretending like you don’t.” —Unknown
“Like each morning he was putting his identity on inside out while dressing in the dark.” ― Vivian Barz, Forgotten Bones
“It’s up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind.”― Steve Maraboli
“It doesn’t have to take over your life, it doesn’t have to define you as a person, it’s just important that you ask for help. It’s not a sign of weakness.” — Demi Lovato
“What does your anxiety do? It does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but it empties today of its strength. It does not make you escape the evil; it makes you unfit to cope with it if it comes.” ― Raymond L. Cramer
“And every person can benefit from talking to somebody. I’m the most anti-medication person, but some people need medicine, and there was a time where I needed some too.” — Miley Cyrus
“I think that we’re all mentally ill. Those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better — and maybe not all that much better after all.” — Stephen King
“If we start being honest about our pain, our anger, and our shortcomings instead of pretending they don’t exist, then maybe we’ll leave the world a better place than we found it.” – Russell Wilson
“You are not your illness. You have an individual story to tell. You have a name, a history, a personality. Staying yourself is part of the battle.” — Julian Seifter
“Emotional pain is not something that should be hidden away and never spoken about. There is truth in your pain, there is growth in your pain, but only if it’s first brought out into the open.” —Steve Aitchison
“It was too heavy a burden to carry and I simply couldn’t do that anymore. I sought and received treatment, I put positive people around me and I got back to doing what I love – writing songs and making music.” – Mariah Carey
Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list. – Michelle Obama
“Beautiful fake smile. All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul and they will never notice how broken you really are.” —Robin Williams
“We take care of our dental health. We don’t take care of our mental health … I think the solution to making this world better is if we would just be healthy mentally.” —Howie Mandel
I cannot stand the words “Get over it”. All of us are under such pressure to put our problems in the past tense. Slow down. Don’t allow other to hurry your healing. It is a process, one that may take years, occasionally, even a lifetime – and that’s OK.” – Beau Taplin

Also See: Overthinking Quotes

Inspirational Mental Health Quotes

“Don’t let your struggle become your identity.”
“To think too much is a disease.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“The only journey is the journey within.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
“The strongest people are those who win battles we know nothing about.”
“The bravest thing I ever did was continuing my life when I wanted to die.”― Juliette Lewis
“I’ve run my whole life – for more than exercise, for mental health.” – Wendelin Van Draanen
“My dark days made me stronger. Or maybe I already was strong, and they made me prove it.” – Emery Lord, When We Collided
“The acknowledgment of having suffered evil is the greatest step forward in mental health.” ― Stefan Molyneux
“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.” – Carl Jung
“Mental health…is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you’re going.” – Noam Shpancer
“One small crack does not mean that you are broken, it means that you were put to the test and you didn’t fall apart.” –Linda Poindexter
“Self-esteem is as important to our well-being as legs are to a table. It is essential for physical and mental health and for happiness.” – Louise Hart
“Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.”— Charles Bukowski
I have never seen battles quite as terrifyingly beautiful as the ones I fight when my mind splinters and races, to swallow me into my own madness, again.” ― Nicole Lyons, Hush
“Never underestimate the pain of a person, because in all honesty, everyone is struggling. Just some people are better at hiding it than others.” —Unknown
“I think it’s really important to de-stigmatize mental illness in any form. I think there’s a lot of people that are carrying around guilt and shame and baggage for sh** that doesn’t matter. Everybody is going through something, everybody has had something that they’ve had to overcome.” — Mary Lambert
“I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless.” —Robin Williams
“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” — Saint Francis of Assisi
“I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — Amy March, from “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott
. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” — Oscar Wilde from “An Ideal Husband”

Mental Health Awareness Quotes

World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

“There is no health without mental health.” – David Satcher
“Is stress inflicted on you — or created by you?”― Frank Sonnenberg
“There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.”― John Green
“Your illness does not define you. Your strength and courage does.” –Unknown
“It can be a good thing, too, to learn to sit in your own weirdness.”― Sarah Wilson
“I fight for my health every day in ways most people don’t understand. I’m not lazy. I’m a warrior.”
Mental health…is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you’re going.” – Noam Shpancer, PhD
“It’s okay to not be okay – it means that your mind is trying to heal itself.”― Abhijit Naskar
“There is a point where courage becomes a symptom of mental illness.”― Wayne Gerard Trotman
“Hope, hope, hope. It has to be there. Rob the person of hope, and there won’t be any recovery.” – Dan Fisher
“Mental health is an important topic, and should be discussed more frequently. It’s not “attention seeking.”― Brien Blatt
Through the vehicle of our emotions, our mind, body, and spirit are sending signals that something has to shift.”― Randy Taran
“Those who suffer from mental illness are stronger than you think. We must fight to go to work, care for our families, be there for our friends, and act ‘normal’ while battling unimaginable pain.”- Anonymous
“It’s okay to feel unstable. It’s okay to disassociate. It’s okay to hide from the world. It’s okay to need help. It’s okay not to be okay. Your mental illness is not a personal failure.”
“Instead of saying, I’m damaged, I’m broken, say I’m healing, I’m rediscovering myself, I’m starting over.”
“Some of the most comforting words in the universe are ‘me too.’ That moment when you find out that your struggle is also someone else’s struggle, that you’re not alone, and that others have been down the same road.” – Unknown
“If you are physically sick, you can elicit the interest of a battery of physicians; but if you are mentally sick, you are lucky if the janitor comes around.” – Martin H. Fischer
“Mental health sufferers are not crazy. They have special insight. You better recognize that setting aside your interest people to stay asleep and show empathy towards God’s imperfect creations, otherwise the world has no meaning to exist.”― Maria Karvouni
Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” – Fred Rogers
”You may have to fight a battle more than once.””People don’t feel comfortable getting mental health care, necessarily, because they’re worried that their friends are going to think they’re unstable or they’re crazy.”

Also See: Depression Quotes

Motivational Quotes on Mental Health and Wellness

”Strong people don’t put others down. They lift them up.”
“Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean it isn’t so.” – Lemony Snicket
“You can’t change your situation, the only thing you can change is how you chose to deal with it.”
“Anyone who has grown mentally, physically, or spiritually knows that growth is not found in comfort.”
”Sometimes in life, you just need a hug. No words, no advice, just a hug to make you feel better.”
“Health does not always come from medicine. Most of the time. It comes from peace of mind, peace in the heart, peace in the soul. It comes from laughter and love.”
“It’s up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind.”
“All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul and they will never notice how broken you really are.” —Unknown
“Nobody can save you but yourself, and you’re worth saving. It’s a war not easily won, but if anything is worth winning then this is it.” Charles Bukowski
“Sometimes self care is exercise and eating right. Sometimes it’s spending time with loved ones or taking a nap. And sometimes it’s watching an entire season of TV in one weekend while you lounge around in your pajamas. Whatever soothes your soul.” Nanea Hoffman
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Short Mental Health Quotes to Uplift Your Mood

“One thing at a time.”
“Your feelings are valid.”
“Not all wounds are visible.”
“Give yourself time to heal.”
“Everything that you are is enough.”
“Don’t believe everything you think.”
“Stay strong, your story isn’t over yet.”
“Don’t let your struggle become your identity.”
”You may have to fight a battle more than once.”
“I hide all my Scars with an ‘I’m fine.’” —Unknown
“Taking care of our mental health is the smart thing to do.”
“Sometimes the worst place you can be at is in your own head.”
“Nothing in this world can torment you as much as your own thoughts.”
“Out of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most.” – Mark Twain
”Healing takes time, and asking for help is a courageous step.” – Mariska Hargitay

Positive Mental Health Quotes to Comfort You

“The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
“Your now is not your forever.” – John Green, Turtles All the Way Down
“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow.” – Vincent van Gogh
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” – Khalil Gibran
“The best way out is always through.” –Robert Frost“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
“When we deny our stories, they define us. When we own our stories, we get to write a brave new ending.” – Brené Brown