Concept of Mental Health

It is easier to define mental illness than mental health. Even though we don't always suffer any apparent diagnosable mental ailments it is evident that in regard to mental health a man differs from the other. Some of us are mentally healthier than the others.

Mental health is the combination of genetic, biological, psychological and environmental factors. It is the absence of mental disorder. It includes an individual's ability to enjoy life and attain a balance between activities of life and effort to achieve the capacity to face stresses and adversities in a very calm and composed manner. It is also an expression of emotions that signifies a successful adaptation to a range of demands. A mentally healthy person can work productively and effectively for the community he lives in.

There is no universally accepted official definition of mental health. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, prevalent customs and conventions, condition of society, political, and social aspects in which he lives in are all the determining factors in deciding the matter of sanity of one's mind setup.That a person is mentally healthy can be ascertained from certain characteristics.

First, the ability to enjoy life without worrying for the future or thinking about the past is the sure sign of healthiness of mind. The secret of life is to see the passing of present time. Sometimes people make themselves miserable by giving constant attention to what can't be cured or about the unpredictable. This is uncongenial to health of mind.

Secondly, the ability to handle stress or trauma and bounce back from adversity indicates mental sanity This characteristic of resilience is shared by those who can handle the situations of stress effortlessly.

Thirdly, greater mental health is the result of balance in life. In our life we constantly need to balance number of things. As for example, we'll be treated as 'loners 'if we can't make balance between time spent socially and time spent alone.Similarly we need to balance between several thing like work and play. Sleep and wakefulness, rest and movement, time spent indoors and time spent outdoors.

Fourthly, emotional and cognitive flexibility is the sign of mental power. Some people hold very rigid opinions and no amount of discussion can change them. These people suffer from stress for their rigid expectations that they hold. Mentally healthy persons open the feelings and emotions instead of shutting them off in the dark chamber of mind.

Sixthly, we all have natural gifts or the inner capabilities. Some use their potentials and others seem to have destroyed them. Mentally sound persons are in the process actualizing their potentials.

Seventh, focusing on the worry topics and discussing them with others is the sign of mental health. Deconstruction of those worries which plague you constantly leads to good health of mind.

These are just a few of the concepts that are important to achieve mental health. In reality to attain complete healthiness of mind one should be free, flexible, open minded, positive, energetic and above all optimistic.

Mental ailments are not always apparent. They are neither detectable sometimes. Mental health is the sum total of different factors taken together. A mentally healthy persons contribute a lot to the society. There is no officially accepted definition of mental health yet it can be assumed. Different social aspects,customs cultures etc, all influence the mental health. So different societies groom the persons differently. Accordingly they differ in mentality, mood and temperament. But some common characteristics are there to consider a person mentally healthy. With these characteristics a person can be treated as mentally balanced.



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