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Health and Mental Health
Razieh Rahmani
Scholar Student in Education
University of Mysore, India
DEFINITION
• Health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social-being and not
merely an absence of disease or infirmity.
• Physical health and mental health are inter-related. A sound mind in a sound
body is an old and appropriate saying for good health
A healthy human being has generally the following features :
• A clear skin.
• Bright, clear eyes.
• A body neither too fat nor too thin.
• Fresh breath.
• Good appetite.
• Sound sleep.
• Regular activity of bladder and bowels.
• Coordinated body movements.
Mental health is about:
Our minds.
How we think and feel
How we express our emotions.
How we perceive the world and
How we react to what is happening in our lives is a reflection of mental health.
WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH?
What is mental health?
How you act in order to face life’s situations…
- For example, how you handle stress.
How you look at yourself, your life and the people in your life…
- For example, how you relate to others.
How you evaluate your options and make choices…
- For example: how you make decisions.
What is mental health?
• Mental health can be “conceptualized as 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 to his
or her community.” (The World Health Organisation (WHO) 2001)
Definition
• Waltin, J.E.W. (1951): “Mental health concerns with the development of
‘wholesome’ balanced personality, one who does not comfort himself like a
series of compartmentalized selves, honest on Sunday, dishonest on Monday,
generous today, crabbed tomorrow, reasonable and Logical at times, at other
times confused and inconsistent.”
• J.A. Hadfield(1949): mental health is the full harmonious functioning of the
whole personality
Definition
• Lewkan P.B. (1949):Mentally healthy person is one who is happy, lives peacefully
with her/his neighbours, makes his children healthy citizens and after fulfilling
such basic responsibilities is still empowered with sufficient strength to save the
cause of society in any way.
Definition
• Menninger (1946, p. 2) says, “Let us define mental health as the adjustment of
human beings to the world and to each other with a maximum of effectiveness
and happiness. Not just efficiency, or just contentment, or the grace of obeying
the rules of the game cheerfully. It is all these together. It is the ability to maintain
an even temper, an alert intelligence, socially considerate behaviour, and a happy
disposition
Characteristics of mental health
1- nothing called perfect mental health
2- it is a dynamic concept
3- Mental health and efficiency are not the same thing.
4- Mental health and social ability are not the same thing.
5- Mental health differs from ethical standards
Concept of mental health is subjective
Mental health is depending on sound physical health.
Measurement of mental health is difficult as we don’t have any standard.
Mental health depends on many factors.
Criteria of mental health may be different from country to country.
Mental health is synonymous to balance personality.
Mental health is also related with stress and strain of life
Characteristics of mental health
Characteristics of a mentally healthy individual
Adaptable and realistic mind
Conscious control of life
Cheerful and optimistic outlook.
Well- regulated instincts
Emotional balanced
Insight into ones’ own conduct
Enthusiastic and reasonable
Good tempered and calm
Socially adaptable
Define philosophy of life
Healthy habit and attitude
Capacity to think independent
Satisfaction
Realistic imagination
Normal sex consciousness
Good physical health
Understanding of environment
Measures to presence and promote mental health in children
• Role of parents
Sympathetic and affectionate attitude
Congenial environment
No over protection or under protection
Use of psychology
Democratic attitude
No too much anxiety
Building self- confidence
Meeting legitimate needs
Providing guidance
Role of schools
• Pupil- centered education
• Congenial environment
• Checking unhealthy competition
• Balanced curriculum
• Democratic discipline
• Freedom of expression
• Provision of education, vocational and personal guidance
• Sex education
• Medical examination
Measures to presence and promote mental health in children
• Roles of teachers
Emotional stability of teachers
Love for children
Democratic attitude
Respect for individuality
True to his commands
Consistency in behavior
Just and impartial
Measures to presence and promote mental health in children
Symptoms of poor mental health
• Emotionally unstable and easily upset
• Apprehensive, suspicious and insecure
• Self- critical, empowered with a feeling of guilt.
• Lack of self- confidence and will power
• No adequate adjustment
• Failure in setting a proper level of aspiration
• Unresolved conflicts, strain and stress stresses,
• lacks enduring power and tolerance
• Unrealistic attitude towards life and people
• Lives in imagination and fantasy
Importance of mental health
• Helps in the development of desirable personality
• Helps in proper emotional development
• Helps in proper social development
• Helps in proper moral development
• Helps in proper aesthetic development
• Helps in actualizing one’s potentialities
• Helps in seeking proper adjustment
• Helps in seeking goals of life
• Helps in progress of the society
• Helps in prevention of mental illness
Principle of mental adjustment
1- Principle seeking adjustment with one’s self
The principle of :
- Knowing the self
- Accepting one’s self
- Balance the level of aspiration
- Balance one’s development
- Integrating the self
- Self- drive and shaping
- Self control
2- Principle of adjustment with environment
The principle of :
understanding others
accepting and respecting other’s individual
socializing one’s self
adequate satisfaction of needs
training the emotions
adjustment to the world of work
positive attitude towards life.
bearing the stresses and strain of life
Good physical health
Principle of Mental Adjustment
Factors Affecting Mental Health
Socio Cultural Model
Medical Model
Psycho Analytical Model
Behaviouristic Model
Interpersonal Mode
21
Mental health is essential to overall health
Compared to the general population, persons with major mental illness typically lose
more than 25 years of normal life span.
– Increased risk of death from medical causes in schizophrenia and 20% shorter
lifespan
– Bipolar and unipolar affective disorders associated with higher standardized
mortality ratios from medical causes.
– Cardiovascular mortality in schizophrenia increased from 1976-1995, with
greatest increase in standardized mortality ratios in men from 1991-1995.
Key component of mental health: what you think?
• Thinking is the cognitive component of mental health.
• It’s important to recognize your thoughts and to determine if they are
reasonable for the situation.
• It’s important how you respond to your thoughts.
– Do you let negative, damaging thoughts continue or do you stop them? For
example, if you think you’ve been slighted by a friend, do you go over and
over in your mind that the friend is hurtful, disloyal, uncaring…
• Thoughts produce feelings in us.
• Feeling is the emotional component of mental health.
• Thoughts produce feelings.
– Thinking the same thoughts over and over in your mind will create feelings –
negative thoughts will create more negative feelings and positive thoughts
will create more positive feelings.
• It’s important to recognize your feelings.
– For example, “I am angry and upset!”
Key component of mental health: what you feel?
Key component of mental health: what you feel?
It’s important to understand where these feelings are coming from.
Ie: your thought processes and how you interpret what’s happened.
It’s important how you respond to your feelings.
“I feel this way so it’s right to feel this way.”
Ask yourself questions such as: “Is this a legitimate feeling that is appropriate
for the situation?”
Key component of Mental Health: How you act?
• Action is the behavioral component of mental health.
• Thoughts and feelings result in actions.
– For example, you dwell in your mind about how your friend has slighted
you until you feel really angry and then you take an action as a result of
your thoughts and feelings.
• Actions can be unhealthy.
– For example, you could pick up the phone and yell at your friend and damage
the relationship.
– For example, you could go out for a smoke or take a drink and hide away in
your room.
• Actions can be healthy.
– For example, you could talk over your thoughts and feelings with your friend
or with someone else who could help.
Key Component of Mental Health: How you act?
Mental health is important because:
• It affects your relationships with others:
– Mental health problems lead to new problems with friends, family, law
enforcement or school officials( National Mental Health Association, 1997)
• It affects how you learn:
– Your attentiveness,
– Your concentration,
– Your classroom conduct,
– Your ability to organize,
– Your ability to communicate.
Mental health is important because:
• Mental health problems can lead to other problems such as:
– Experimenting with drugs or alcohol,
– Being sexually promiscuous,
– Being hostile and aggressive,
– Taking risks in behavior.
mental health in schools is about:
• providing programs to promote social-emotional development, prevent mental
health and psychosocial problems, and enhance resiliency and protective buffers
• providing programs and services to intervene as early after the onset of learning,
behavior, and emotional problems as is feasible
Role of the school in children mental health
• Good physical health
• Proper emotional development
• Proper social relationship and acceptance
• Proper level of aspiration
• No emphasis on perfection
• Mental health of teachers and parents
• Overall improvement in the environment conditions
• Appropriate homework
• Freedom and self- discipline
• Sex education
• Religious and moral education
• Proper guidance service
• Efficient method of teaching
• Improvement and enrichment of the curriculum
Role of the school in children mental health
Behavior of teacher and parents
• Their behavior must be sympathetic
• They must not play authoritarian and dictatorial role
• Nothing is more disturbing to a child than the inconsistency in the behavior and
attitude of his elder
Building the capacity of all school staff to address barriers to learning and
promote healthy development.
• Addressing systemic matters at schools that affect mental health, such as high
stakes testing (including exit exams) and other practices that engender bullying,
alienation, and student disengagement from classroom learning.
Role of Teacher
• Emotionally stability of teacher
• Love for children
• Missionary zeal
• Patience
• Democratic attitude
• Respect for individuality
• True to his commands
• Interaction with pupil
• Consistency in behavior
What can I do to help protect my mental health?
– Eat healthfully.
– Exercise adequately.
– Care for your health daily.
– Take time for yourself regularly.
– Sleep bountifully.
– Manage stress diligently.
What can I Do to help protect my mental health?
– Play
• Learn to do something new and fun
– Know yourself
• Be attuned to your thoughts and feelings.
• Keep a journal.
• Recognize when “this just doesn't seem like I usually think or act”.
– Say “no” sometimes. Don’t overbook your schedule or your life.
• Make time for quiet
– Turn off the cell phone, TV…
What can I do to help protect my mental health?
– Recognize warning signs in
• How you think,
• How you feel,
• How you act.
– Practice stress management and other self care strategies throughout life.
– Know when and where to get help.
• Get help as soon as you suspect you need it.
• Get help from a trained counselor or through a medical referral.
MENTAL HYGIENE
• Mental Hygiene is a branch of hygiene which deals with the mental health of the
individuals in the same way as physical hygiene concern with their physical
health.
• Mental Hygiene take care of the prevention as well as treatment of mental
illness.
• It is the science that attempts to develop and apply principles and techniques for
the preservation and promotion of mental health as well as for the prevention
and treatment of mental disorders diseases and abnormalities.
What is Mental Hygiene?
• Mental hygiene consist of measures to reduce the incidence of mental illness
through prevention and early treatment and to promote mental health.( Singh &
Tiwari, 1971)
• As it’s name suggests is concerned with the realization and the maintenance of
the mind’s health and efficiency.( Klein, 1965)
• Mental hygiene means investigation of the laws of the mental health, and the
taking or advocacy of measures for its preservation.( Drever, 1952)
• Branch of science that deals with human welfare and pervades all fields of human
relationship.( Crow and craw, 1951)
Aspects of Mental Hygiene
• Physical health: sound physique is essential to keep good mental health
• Intellectual health: intellectual person can adjust well to the changing
• Emotional health: emotionally stable child enjoys a good mental health
• Interest and aptitude:
• Mental hygiene and environment: good environment is essential to have good
mental health
1- prevention of mental disorders through an understanding of the relationship that
exists between wholesome personality development and life experiences. In this
direction its aims:
• List various causes of maladjustment, personal as well as social.
• Furnish the knowledge of drives, needs, motives, conflicts of motives, frustrations
and tensions.
• Suggest ways and means of achieving emotional and social adjustment.
• Solution for inner conflict and frustration and thus relieving ourselves from
tension, anxieties and emotional disturbances.
Purposes and aims of Mental Hygiene
2- preservation of the mental health of both the individual and the group. In this
direction its aims:
• Develop total potentialities of an individual
• Attaining emotional maturity and stability
• Achieving personal and social security as well as adequacy
• Developing healthy human relationship and group interaction
• Helping the individual in acquiring sound body and normal mental health.
Purposes and Aims of Mental Hygiene
3- Discovery and utilization of therapeutic measures to cure mental illnesses. In this
direction its aims:
• Furnish necessary knowledge regarding types of mental illnesses, disorders and
diseases
• Suggest various forms of therapy for the treatment and cure of specific mental
illness and disorders.
• Suggest means for the rehabilitation and readjustment of the maladjusted,
mentally disturbed and mentally ill persons.
Purposes and aims of Mental Hygiene
