Just like physical health, mental health is something that all of us should care for every day of our lives. Whether you’ve been diagnosed with a mental health condition like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, or post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), or you simply would like to improve your thoughts and general outlook, every person should be careful to regularly tend to their minds.
While there are many ways to address mental health, from therapy to medication to yoga and meditation, mental health quotes can be beneficial no matter what you’re struggling with. Perhaps you’re searching for a personal mantra to repeat in your head whenever you experience a low or anxious moment. Or, you’d love to write one down on a notecard and tuck it into your bathroom mirror as a daily reminder before you head out the door.
Maybe you’re having one of those particularly tough mornings when you can’t seem to muster the strength or motivation to get out of bed (which, of course, you shouldn’t feel guilty about). Although staying in bed can be therapeutic at times, in other instances, you’d like to get up so you can meet a friend for coffee or get in that workout. For this, it can be helpful to read through a long list of inspiring, strengthening, and healing mental health quotes. That’s why we compiled this list of some of the best quotes about mental health around to improve your outlook and remind you that you’re not alone.
Inspiring Mental Health Quotes
- “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” — John Green
- “I keep moving ahead, as always, knowing deep down inside that I am a good person and that I am worthy of a good life.” — Jonathan Harnisch
- “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
- “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — Amy March, from Little Women
- “Your mental health is everything — prioritize it. Make the time like your life depends on it, because it does.” — Mel Robbins
- “We are not our trauma. We are not our brain chemistry. That’s part of who we are, but we’re so much more than that.” — Sam J. Miller
- “It’s possible to live well, feel well, and also find happiness with bipolar disorder or any other mental illness [you’re] struggling with.” — Demi Lovato
- "No need to hurry, no need to sparkle, no need to be anybody but oneself." — Virginia Woolf
- "I have been bent and broken, but — I hope — into a better shape." — Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
- "Mental health problems don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain and you feel the rain, but, importantly, you are not the rain." — Matt Haig
Mental Health Quotes About Depression
- "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise again." — Victor Hugo
- “I found that with depression, one of the most important things you can realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it, you’re not gonna be the last to go through it.” — Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
- “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle Onassis
- "In the middle of winter I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer." — Albert Camus
- "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
- “My recovery from manic depression has been an evolution, not a sudden miracle.” — Patty Duke
- “Life is like a piano; the white keys represent happiness and the black show sadness. But as you go through life’s journey, remember that the black keys also create music.” — Ehssan
- “Take a shower, wash off the day. Drink a glass of water. Make the room dark. Lie down and close your eyes. Notice the silence. Notice your heart. Still beating. Still fighting. You made it, after all. You made it, another day. And you can make it one more. You’re doing just fine.” — Charlotte Eriksson
Mental Health Quotes About Anxiety
- “Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.” — Walter Anderson
- “Don’t believe everything you think.” — Unknown
- "Make not your thoughts your prisons.” —William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
- “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
- “No amount of anxiety can change the future. No amount of regret can change the past.” — Karen Salmansohn
Mental Health Quotes to Stay Strong
- “The best way out is always through.”— Robert Frost
- "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls, the most massive characters are seared with scars." — Khalil Gibran
- “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill
- “Tough times never last, but tough people do!” — Robert Schuller
- “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — Christopher Robin, from Winnie the Pooh
- “Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you.” — Ovid
- “The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of the world but those who fight and win battles that others do not know anything about.” — Jonathan Harnisch
- “If you were born with the weakness to fall, you were born with the strength to rise.” — Rupi Kaur
Mental Health Quotes for Healing and Self-Care
- “Healing takes time, and asking for help is a courageous step.” — Mariska Hargitay
- “Being able to be your true self is one of the strongest components of good mental health.” — Dr. Lauren Fogel Mersy
- “Take your time healing, as long as you want. Nobody else knows what you've been through. How could they know how long it will take to heal you?” — Abertoli
- “If you are broken, you do not have to stay broken.”— Selena Gomez
- “You don’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared, and anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make you a negative person. It makes you human.” — Lori Deschene
- “What I love about therapy is that they'll tell you what your blind spots are. Although that's uncomfortable and painful, it gives you something to work with.” — Pink
- "What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality." — Plutarch
- “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” — Brené Brown
- “When you take care of yourself, you’re a better person for others. When you feel good about yourself, you treat others better.” — Solange Knowles
- "Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go, they merely determine where you start." — Nido Qubein
- “Part of my identity is saying no to things I don’t want to do… I check in with myself throughout the day and I say, ‘Do I really want to do this?’ and if the answer is no, then I don’t do it. And you shouldn’t either.” — Lady Gaga
- “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott
- “Change what you can, manage what you can’t.” — Raymond McCauley
- “Self-care is how you take your power back.” — Lalah Delia
- “Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” — Christopher Germer
Mental Health Awareness Quotes
- “What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” — Glenn Close
- “No one would ever say that someone with a broken arm or a broken leg is less than a whole person, but people say that or imply that all the time about people with mental illness.” — Elyn R. Saks
- “‘Positive vibes only’ isn’t a thing. Humans have a wide range of emotions and that’s OK.” — Molly Bahr, LMHC
- “It is okay to have depression, it is okay to have anxiety and it is okay to have an adjustment disorder. We need to improve the conversation. We all have mental health in the same way we all have physical health.” — Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Shelby Deering is a lifestyle writer who specializes in decor, home tours, wellness, travel, vintage, and feel-good stories for national publications. She’s from Madison, Wisconsin, and when she’s not writing, you’ll find her running local trails, shopping flea markets, or going for walks with her husband and corgi.
