2.1: What is Mental Health?

Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Mental health is fundamental to our collective and individual ability as humans to think, emote, interact with each other, earn a living and enjoy life. Although more emphasis is often placed on our physical wellness, mental and physical health are equally important components of overall health.

Although poor mental health and mental illness are terms that are often used interchangeably, poor mental health and mental illness are not the same. A person can experience poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness. Likewise, a person diagnosed with a mental illness can experience periods of physical, mental, and social well-being.

According to the World Health Organization:

• Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders.
• Mental health is an integral part of health; indeed, there is no health without mental health.
• Mental health is determined by a range of socioeconomic, biological and environmental factors

Mental Health and Wellness

Your mental health is very important to your well-being. Just like we strive for to be physically healthy, we must also strive to be mentally, emotionally, and socially healthy.

Positive mental health allows people to:

• Cope with the stresses of life
• Be physically healthy
• Have good relationships
• Make meaningful contributions to your community
• Work productively
• Realize your full potential

Reaching Your Full Potential

What does it take to reach your full human potential, to become everything that you are capable of becoming? Is it important to have air, water, food, and shelter in order for you to strive to reach your human potential? Is it important to feel safe in order to reach your human potential?

In 1943 Abraham Maslow published one of the most cited theories of human behavior called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs^[1]. The purpose of the Hierarchy of Needs was to explain that there are levels of human needs and we need to focus on each of the levels in order to become everything that we are capable of becoming. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom. Maslow developed the hierarchy with order of importance in mind, however noted that although it was observed that most people fulfilled their basic needs in the order of the hierarchy, there are some exceptions. The order of needs as categorized by Maslow from bottom to top are: physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow acknowledged that many different levels of motivation are likely to be present in a human all at once. His focus in discussing the hierarchy was to identify the basic types of motivation and the order that they generally progress as lower needs are reasonably well met.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Physiological Needs

Physiological needs are generally obvious because they are required for survival. If requirements are not met, the body cannot continue to function. Air, water, food, clothing, and shelter are the basic physiological needs.

Safety Needs

Once physical needs are satisfied, individual safety takes precedence. Safety and Security needs include:

• Personal and family safety
• Financial security
• Health and well-being

Love/belonging Needs

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs are interpersonal. This involves feelings of belongingness. Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from larger community affiliations or simply a few close friends. Without these connections, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression. This need for belonging can sometimes overcome physiological and security needs. For example, an anorexic may ignore the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging. Deficiencies in interpersonal needs, due to neglect, shunning, ostracism, etc., can impact an individual’s ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships.

Esteem

Esteem represents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. Many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally, but must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances, such as depression, can prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.

Self-actualization

This level of need refers to what a person’s full potential is and the realization of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings, pictures, or inventions. Maslow believed that to acquire this level of need, the person must adequately achieve the previous needs.

Examples: The movie Cast Away

The movie, Cast Away, demonstrates Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. When Tom Hanks character is marooned on a deserted island the first things he does find water and food. These actions satisfy his immediate physiological needs. Next he needs to find shelter for safety and security. To meet his love and belongingness needs he has “Wilson”

Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness

Why study happiness? What does happiness have to do with well-being? For your well-being, is it more important to focus on being happy as a goal or focus on bringing positivity into your life? What do Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, and Netherlands have in common?

Happiness has been linked to health with research indicating that being happy lowers disease risk, increases the likelihood of including positive behaviors in your life, and reduced the chance of all-cause mortality^[2]. The science of happiness is just one area of what is called Positive Psychology^[3]. Positive psychology is a relatively new field that shifted the discussion from a specific focus on what is wrong with someone (disease or illness) to what is right, by utilizing research to understand what contributes to a persons optimal functioning and helps them to flourish. This shift in focus is one factor that led to the publication of the World Happiness Report. Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has been published annually focusing on the state of global happiness for 156 countries by measuring how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, and Netherlands are routinely shown to be the happiest countries in the world.

Studies show that focusing on positivity in your life is associated with overall happiness, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being, whereas a focus on seeking happiness or being happy is associated with negative feelings^[4]. To increase happiness in your life, focus on bringing positivity into you life, which will lead to happiness. Just focusing on wanting to be happy will likely have a negative impact on your well-being.

Focus on your mental health

Ways to maintain positive mental health include:

• Getting professional help if you need it
• Connecting with others
• Staying positive
• Getting physically active
• Helping others
• Getting enough sleep
• Developing coping skills
• Developing a sense of meaning and purpose in life.
• Relaxation Techniques (meditation)
• Practice Mindfulness
• Practice Gratitude