Experts have sometimes found it difficult to define mental health. Perhaps the difficulty occurs because mental health is such a complex term. A person could use the term mental health to describe a series of studies, a frame of mind, or a condition opposite of a mental illness. Mental health is not just one concept.
It is a multilayered series of concepts that wrap around other concepts. The only way to truly define mental health is to list its separate components and then describe malfunctions in such components.
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How Does One Define Mental Health?
Mental health is a sense of spiritual, emotional and psychiatric well-being that has the perfect balance. But whom determines when a person has reached such a state? Does a psychiatrist decide when a person is mentally healthy?
Does the person decide when they are mentally healthy? Or do other people in the world decide when a person is mentally healthy? The answer is that all the people above play a part in determining a person’s mental health. Textbook information has a part in determining a person’s mental health.
The Different Parts of Mental Health
One of the main components of mental health is the thought process. Thought processes are ideas and images that pass through a person’s mind daily. No one has pleasant thoughts and images all the time, but a mentally healthy person will have the most of the time. People will also know how to separate negative thoughts and act on them passively.
A person with a mental illness may not control their thought processes. Such a person may not know how to stop them or how to react to them. In this case, the thoughts and the behaviours that stem from the thoughts can constitute mental illness.
A person’s behaviors can also determine their mental health. People should relate to each other respectfully and rationally. All people experience different emotions such as happiness, sadness, rage, disappointment, etc.
A person with stable mental health will constructively deal with those emotions. For example, a mentally healthy person would deal with losing a job by realizing that another door will open eventually.
A mentally ill person lacks the coping skills necessary to deal with a job loss. This person may fall into a depression, and they may feel worthless. The person may act on the job loss violently, or worse, the person may attempt suicide.
Relationships are another element of mental health. The way the males relate to females and vice versa can define their mental health status. A mentally healthy man or woman will give his or her partner the utmost level of care and compassion. This person will partner in finances, child-rearing, goals and aspirations.
A person who has poor mental health would disrespect a partner. They may become involved in numerous affairs. The person may abuse their partner verbally, mentally or physically. Furthermore, the individual may abandon the partner when the situation becomes challenging.
Self-confidence and self-esteem are other sectors of mental health. This mental health sector consists of the way a person views. A mentally healthy person will have a high level of self-confidence. This person will be able to find beauty in the mirror. They will notice inner strengths and special talents.
The person will always strive for perfection, but they will realize that no one is perfect. A mentally ill person does not see a worthy person in the mirror. This person is often pessimistic or cynical. The individual may feel worthless, unattractive, unlovable and detached from the rest of the world.
The way that people treat other people can define mental health for them. Mentally healthy individuals will always strive to treat other people kindly, and they will not have ulterior motives for doing such. A mentally healthy person may assist a starving individual. They may take in homeless children just for the sake of giving them a better life.
A person with poor mental health may be an opportunist who uses people for whatever they can provide. This type of person may even find pleasure in other people’s pain. Such a person may have a personality disorder that developed in childhood.
Personal outlooks on life can sometimes define one’s mental health status. Healthy people appreciate what they have, and some higher power has allowed them to live. Unhealthy individuals may be angry at the world because life did not go according to their master plan. They may lash out at other people to fill the void within their souls.
Achieving Mental Health
Achieving mental health often takes psychological assistance. People who have poor mental health due to childhood conflicts will have to discuss those conflicts with a specialist. They must trace their pain back to when it first developed, and they must find a way to repair it constructively.
Who can fix most mental health problems with redirection, support and lifestyle changes? Other mental health conditions may require medications. Balancing one’s psyche and spirit often requires multiple methods of repair.
So What Is Mental Health?
Mental health is the way a person feels daily. It is the way one sees the world through their eye. It consists of a person’s actions to resolve internal conflicts that arise. Additionally, it is the outlook that a person has on life. No one in the world has perfect mental health. However, some individuals are close to having a perfect balance.
Those individuals can help other people by providing a positive example and hope for the future. They can teach mentally ill people how to recover from the demons that destroy their souls.
