May: Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health is a Journey — How We Build Happiness and Resilience Every Day

Researchers have been investigating what factors enable people to survive and thrive in recent years. Until then, psychology had primarily focused on addressing mental health difficulties, but a new question emerged: how can we cultivate strength, happiness, and resilience before challenges arise? Since then, discussions around well-being have multiplied. Yet happiness often still feels elusive, and resilience can seem like a privilege reserved for the lucky few. We usually view them as traits people are born with. However, science tells a different story: these skills are shaped by experience, practice, and the structure of our brains, and we can all develop them.

Mental Health Awareness Month reminds us that mental well-being is not just about avoiding difficulties, but also about embracing the strength to cultivate relationships, resilience, and inner balance. Mental health is not a privilege but a right, and the foundation for a meaningful life.

Happiness, for example, is closely linked to the brain’s reward system. When we experience happiness or connection with someone, the brain releases dopamine, reinforcing positive emotions. Individuals who practice gratitude, kindness, or mindfulness exhibit greater activity in areas such as the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for focus and emotional regulation. In other words, happiness isn’t just a fleeting feeling—it’s a habit that shapes the brain over time. Resilience also has biological roots. It’s not about never feeling pain, but restoring balance after facing challenges. Strong communication between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala facilitates the management of fear and promotes calmness under pressure. Resilient individuals are not untouched by adversity; they adapt, recover, and grow through it.

We can strengthen these skills thanks to neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to change in response to our actions and experiences. Imagine your brain as a network of paths: the more you walk a path, the stronger and easier it becomes. This means we can train our brains to think more positively, respond to stress more calmly, and maintain stronger connections with others.

This ability gives us hope, but it also calls us to action. We are rarely taught how to build mental habits early in life. Many of us wait until we feel overwhelmed before turning inward. Yet the smallest daily choices—a moment of gratitude, a call to someone we trust, a deep breath during a difficult moment—quietly shape our resilience and happiness.

Mental health is not a solitary journey. Asking for help is not a weakness; it is an act of courage. No one is meant to face life’s struggles alone. Support networks, professional care, and community are not luxuries but lifelines. The true power of change happens within and between us, through the bonds we dare to build. Perhaps it’s time we stop seeing happiness and resilience as distant goals. They are built, breath by breath, thought by thought, moment by moment.

Mental Health Awareness Month reminds us that caring for our mental world and mind is a daily practice and a lifelong journey worth embracing. So, if you or someone you know needs support, know that help is always available. In Cyprus, you can contact the Mental Health Helpline at 1401, available 24 hours daily for psychological support and guidance. Or, through your personal doctor, you can access a specialist psychologist, who can support and empower you.

Dr. Christodoula Gavriel
Lecturer in Psychology
Principal Investigator of the PERiFORM Project, funded by the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) under the RESTART 2016–2020 framework (Project Code: POST-DOC/0524/0011)
Department of Psychology, University of Limassol (UoL)