Does mental illness go away on its own?

Mental illness affects everyone differently. For some people, it comes and goes. For others, it can feel almost constant. You might experience one episode of depression, or it might be a lifelong struggle. You might experience multiple illnesses over time, or all at once.

It’s hard to predict what your experience with mental illness will be. But if your symptoms are severe, or if you’ve experienced multiple types of mental illness, it’s not likely to go away on its own—and if it does, it will likely come back.

Fortunately, there’s no need to sit around and wait for mental illness to go away on its own. There are lots of great treatment options. You can seek professional help from a doctor or therapist, or you can work on your mental health on your own.

Start by learning more about mental illness and how it’s treated. Then pick a treatment you feel comfortable with—it can be something simple, like writing in a journal. Stick with it for a few weeks, and see if you feel better. If not, try something else.

Working actively to improve your mental health feels better than waiting around for things to change on their own. And many of the treatments for mental illness are just good, healthy habits to have anyway. It may take you a while to find a combination of treatments that works best for you, but that’s okay—finding ways to improve your mental health is a rewarding experience, with benefits that go far beyond just keeping your mental illness under control.