Today is our topic of discussion Mental Health
Mental Health
Concept of mental health:
- Mental health refers to our cognitive, and/or emotional wellbeing.
- Approximately 25% of people in the UK have a mental-health problem during their lives. The USA is said to have the highest incidence of people diagnosed with mental-health problems in the developed world.
- Mental health can affect daily life, relationships and even the physical health. People with these disorders are often subjected to social isolation, poor quality of life and increased mortality.
- Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are affected by mental, behavioral, neurological and substance use disorders.
- About 877,000 people die by suicide every year.
- One in four patients visiting health care service have at least one mental, neurological or behavioural disorder but most of these disorders are neither diagnosed nor treated.
- Cost-effective treatments exist for most disorders and, if correctly applied, could enable most of those affected to become functioning members of society.
Definition of mental health:
Mental health is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution by own abilities to his or her community.
WHO stresses that mental-health is not just the absence of mental disorder.
Criteria of a mentally healthy person/Indicators of mental health:
The ability to enjoy life –
The ability to enjoy life is essential to good mental-health.
Resilience –
The ability to bounce back from adversity has been referred to as “resilience.” It has been long known that some people handle stress better than others.
Balance –
We all need to balance time spent socially with time spent alone. Other areas where balance seems to be important include the balance between work and play, the balance between sleep and wakefulness, the balance between rest and exercise, and even the balance between time spent indoors and time spent outdoors.
Flexibility –
Emotional flexibility may be just as important as cognitive flexibility. Mentally healthy people experience a range of emotions and allow themselves to express these feelings.
Self-actualization –
Mentally healthy persons are in the process of actualizing their potential.
Self-esteem and healthy sexuality.
Factors associated with mental illness:
Biological causal factors:
1. Genetic defects: Cleft lip & palate, cardiac anomaly, achondroplasia
2. Brain dysfunction: Hydrocephalus, congenital hypothyroidism
Psychosocial causal factors:
1. Problem in self perception.
2. Early deprivation or trauma: Institutionalization, deprivation in the home, childhood trauma.
3. Inadequate parenting: Overprotection and excessive restriction, unrealistic demands, overpermissiveness and indulgence, faulty discipline, inadequate and irrational communication.
Pathogenic family structure:
Discordant and disturbed families, disrupted family.
Maladaptive peer relationships.
Sociocultural causal factors:
1. The sociocultural environment.
2. Pathogenic societal influences: Low socioeconomic status, prejudice and discrimination, economic and employment problems.
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