I'm in my forties and I've had my ups and downs in the realm of mental and emotional health, and I can say that whatever present circumstances I'm dealing with at any given time are more important than just about any other factor on deciding whether I'm up or down. The down periods are riddled with me trying to fit figurative square pegs in round holes; continuing to try to make bad situations work when there's no hope of fixing them. Cutting bait and moving on has been instrumental in addressing these problems. The bad times seem to come whether we're ready for them or not, but as I've gotten older and my social support group has been fortified, I've gotten better at properly assessing those lost causes and quickly righting myself by adjusting expectations and acting accordingly. Mental health is both environmental and internal. It's helpful to be reminded that as human beings, we have the unique talent of being able to modify our environment to suit us, and our internal dialogue is no different.