|
WHAT IS GOOD MENTAL HEALTH?
Good mental health, like good physical health is more than just the absence of illness. To live reasonably well in modern society requires an understanding of health in all its aspects. For an individual, good mental health is a consistent sense of positive well-being; for the neighbourhood and the nation, mental fitness is the belief, perhaps unspoken, that most communities have a general resourcefulness that makes possible a vigorous, harmonious and creative way of life in which all citizens can find a pathway to reach their potential.
Such a hopeful philosophy requires that we be positive and delibrate in caring for our own health. It also requires that the laws, institutions and customs we give our assent to should be such that a healthy way of life is possible and indeed encouraged.
Normal human growth and development: Our chance of health are influenced by our genetic inheritance and by the circumstances and conditions in which we grow and mature. What are the factors involved? There are many understandings: Maori people speak of the four cornerstones of health: taha wairua (spirituality), taha hine ngaro (mental aspects), taha whanau ( the family and social group), and taha tinana ( the body). If any dimension is threatened, the wairoa (total well-being) is threatened.
A similar approach lists five aspects:
Physical
Intellectual
Emotional
Social
Spiritual
Mental health involves all these aspects.
WHAT IS MENTAL ILLNESS?
A complex web of relations and activities binds human beings in a variety of work, family, recreational and social groups. Arising from this complexity is the need for everyone to develop social competence, the confidence, skills and abilities needed to deal with daily life. A person who is socially competent and personally resourceful can 'cope'.
A downturn in mental health can result from an individual's response to the crises and challenges that life brings. Emotional upsets, worries, great distress and extended demands on one's coping powers can result in a variety of unpleasant episodes from anxiety to depression. Such bad patches are very common - one person in eight - and need not last long given early assessment and a suitable plan of action.
Major mental disorders affect only one in a hundred, and organic and/or biochemical factors are implicated, arising from within the body or from substances ingested or absorbed by body tissue. The person's perception of reality is distorted, and may bring bizarre thoughts, speech, behaviour. Early assessment and appropriate treatment to relieve distress can bring relief, but thereafter much time is needed for healing and adjustment. One third will recover well, one third may have other episodes over the years and one third may sustain a degree of permanent impairment. They may (like diabetics) require maintenance medication to support their chances of moderate health and contentment.
Mental illness needs attention, not neglect.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF MENTAL HEALTH?
Assessing a person's current state of well-being involves all the dimensions which contribute to health. Changes in sleep pattern, weight and appetites are considered, as well as the actions and reactions of daily life.
Appearance: should be well cared for and what is usual in the social context (allowing for the vagaries of fashion!).
Thought: should be coherent, capable of dealing with the average range of concepts so as to result in clear communication by speech or writing.
Talk: Speech should flow clearly, talk should be logical and readily understood.
Mood: should generally be equable. A sufficient 'emotional vocabulary' from joy, happiness and contentment through to fear, anger and sadness should be well understood and capable of expression so as to fit the context in which the emotion arises.
Behaviour: The energy generated by one's feelings, and the actions deliberately decided upon, should be used to solve problems and enhance relationships, rather than to result in chaos and destruction to self or others.
A mentally fit person has well worked out ethical beliefs, can concentrate and stay on task, can discriminate need from want or desire, and can maintain integrity in time, place and person. Well-being means not subject to unreasoning fear, but facing each new day in hopeful anticipation.
Mental health - keep it in mind.
Resource material prepared by:
The Richmond Fellowship of New Zealand
Postal Address:
Level 3, 249 Madras St.
Christchurch
Phone 03 365 3211 Fax 03 365 3905
Freephone 0800 474 246
Email: national@richmond.org.nz
|
|
