What is mental health?

Mental health is a crucial and essential component of health. The WHO constitution states:

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

An important importance of this definition is that mental health is more than just the absence of mental disorders or disabilities.

Mental health is a region of well-being in which a person 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 is basic to our collective and individual ability as humans to think, emote, interact with each other, earn a living and enjoy life. On this basis, the promotion, protection and restoration of mental health can be regarded as a vital concern of individuals, communities and societies throughout the world.

Good mental health is vital to human health and well being. A person’s mental health and many widespread mental disorders are shaped by various social, economic, and physical environments regulating at different stages of life. Risk factors for many common mental disorders are heavily associated with social inequalities, whereby the greater the inequality the higher the inequality in risk.

It is of major significance that action is taken to improve the conditions of everyday life, beginning before birth and progressing into early childhood, older childhood and adolescence, during family building and working ages, and through to older age. Effort throughout these life stages would provide opportunities for both improving population mental health, and for reducing risk of those mental disorders that are associated with social inequalities.

Check out the following resources to help you with mental health:

Mental health journal for men: https://amzn.to/3p2qbFU

Black mental health guide: https://amzn.to/3ryHW15

The Balanced Mind: A Mental Health Journal: Exploratory Prompts and Effective Practices: https://amzn.to/2N5byV4

Determinants of mental health

Numerous social, psychological, and biological factors determine the level of mental health of a person at any point of time. For example, turmoil and persistent socio-economic pressures are recognized risks to mental health. The obvious evidence is associated with domestic violence. Poor mental health is also correlated with rapid social change, stressful work conditions, gender discrimination, social exclusion, unhealthy lifestyle, physical ill-health and human rights violations. There are certain psychological and personality factors that make people vulnerable to mental health problems. Biological risks include genetic factors. Understanding of what to do about the escalating burden of mental disorders has improved substantially over the past decade. There is a growing body of indication demonstrating both the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of key interventions for priority mental disorders in countries at different levels of economic development. Examples of interventions that are cost-effective, feasible, and affordable.

Mental illnesses

Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a broad range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors. Many people have mental health questions from time to time. But a mental health concern becomes a mental illness when ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress and affect your ability to function.

A mental illness can make you dismal and can cause problems in your daily life, such as at school or work or in relationships. In most cases, symptoms can be managed with a combination of medications and talk therapy (psychotherapy).

Signs and symptoms of mental illness can vary, depending on the disorder, circumstances and other factors. Mental illness symptoms can affect emotions, thoughts and behaviors.

Depression

Depression is a familiar mental disorder and one of the main causes of disability worldwide. Globally, an estimated 264 million people are affected by depression. More women are affected than men.

Depression is defined by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, tiredness, and poor concentration. People with depression may also have multiple physical objections with no apparent physical cause. Depression can be long-lasting or recurrent, substantially impairing people’s ability to function at work or school and to cope with daily life. At its most severe, depression can lead to suicide and a painful ending of ones own life

Deterence programmes have been shown to reduce depression, both for children (e.g. through protection and psychological support following physical abuse) and adults (e.g. through psychosocial assistance after disasters and conflicts).

There are also effective treatments. Mild to moderate depression can be effectively treated with talking therapies, such as cognitive behaviour therapy or psychotherapy. Antidepressants can be an effective form of medication for moderate to severe depression but are not the first line of treatment for cases of mild depression. They should not be used for treating depression in children and are not the first line of treatment in adolescents, among whom they should be used with caution.

Supervision of depression should include psychosocial aspects, including identifying stress factors, such as financial problems, difficulties at work or physical or mental abuse, and sources of support, such as family members and friends. The maintenance or reactivation of social networks and social activities is important.

Bipolar disorder

This disorder affects about 45 million people worldwide. It typically consists of both manic and depressive episodes separated by periods of normal mood. Manic episodes involve elevated or irritable mood, over-activity, rapid speech, inflated self-esteem and a decreased need for sleep. People who have manic attacks but do not experience depressive episodes are also classified as having bipolar disorder. People who have bipolar disorder can have periods in which they feel overly happy and energized and other periods of feeling very sad, hopeless, and stagnant. In between those periods, they usually feel normal. You can think of the highs and the lows as two "poles" of mood, which is why it's called "bipolar" disorder. The word "manic" describes the times when someone with bipolar disorder feels overly excited and confident. These feelings can also involve irritability and impulsive or reckless decision-making. About half of people during mania can also have delusions (believing things that aren't true and that they can't be talked out of) or hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren't there).

Beneficial treatments are available for the treatment of the acute phase of bipolar disorder and the prevention of relapse. These are medicines that stabilize mood. Psychosocial support is an important component of treatment.

Schizophrenia and other psychoses

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder, affecting 20 million people worldwide. Psychoses, including schizophrenia, are characterized by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behavior. Common psychotic experiences include hallucinations (hearing, seeing or feeling things that are not there) and delusions (fixed false beliefs or suspicions that are firmly held even when there is evidence to the contrary). The disorder can make it difficult for people affected to work or study normally.

Stigma and intolerance can result in a lack of access to health and social services. Furthermore, people with psychosis are at high risk of exposure to human rights violations, such as long-term confinement in institutions. Schizophrenia typically begins in late adolescence or early adulthood. Treatment with medicines and psychosocial support is effective. With appropriate treatment and social support, affected people can lead an efficient life and be integrated in society. Facilitation of assisted living, supported housing and supported employment can act as a base from which people with severe mental disorders, including schizophrenia, can achieve numerous recovery goals as they often face difficulty in obtaining or retaining a place to live and normal employment.

Dementia

Worldwide, approximately 50 million people have dementia. Dementia is usually of a chronic or progressive nature in which there is breakdown in cognitive function (i.e. the ability to process thought) beyond what might be expected from normal ageing. It affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgement. The impairment in cognitive function is commonly accompanied, and occasionally preceded, by deterioration in emotional control, social behavior, or motivation.

Dementia is caused by a variety of diseases and injuries that affect the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease or stroke. Though there is no treatment currently available to cure dementia or to alter its progressive course, many treatments are in various stages of clinical trials. Much can be done, however, to support and improve the lives of people with dementia and their careers and families.

Developmental disorders, including autism

Developmental disorder is a broad term covering intellectual disability and pervasive developmental disorders including autism. Developmental disorders usually have a childhood onset but tend to persist into adulthood, causing impairment or delay in functions related to the central nervous system maturation. They generally follow a steady course rather than the periods of remissions and relapses that characterize many mental disorders.

Diligent disability is characterized by impairment of skills across multiple developmental areas such as cognitive functioning and adaptive behaviour. Lower intelligence diminishes the ability to adapt to the daily demands of life. Symptoms of pervasive developmental disorders, such as autism, include impaired social behaviour, communication and language, and a narrow range of interests and activities that are both unique to the individual and are carried out repetitively. Developmental disorders often originate in infancy or early childhood. People with these disorders occasionally display some degree of intellectual disability.

Who is at risk from mental disorders?

Determinants of mental health and mental disorders include not only individual characteristics such as the ability to manage one's thoughts, emotions, behaviors and interactions with others, but also social, cultural, economic, political and environmental factors such as national policies, social protection, standards of living, working conditions, and community support. Stress, genetics, nutrition, perinatal infections and exposure to environmental hazards are also contributing factors to mental disorders

Health and support

Health systems have not yet adequately responded to the burden of mental disorders. As a consequence, the gap between the need for treatment and its provision is wide all over the world. In low- and middle-income countries, between 76% and 85% of people with mental disorders receive no treatment for their disorder. A further compounding problem is the poor quality of care for many of those who do receive treatment.

In addition to supporting from health-care services, people with mental illness require social support and care. They often need help in accessing educational programs that fit their needs, and in finding employment and housing which enable them to live and be active in their local communities.

Check out the following resources to help you with mental health:

Mental health journal for men: https://amzn.to/3p2qbFU

Black mental health guide: https://amzn.to/3ryHW15

The Balanced Mind: A Mental Health Journal: Exploratory Prompts and Effective Practices: https://amzn.to/2N5byV4