As we continue our journey into the world of mental illness we have to ask, what is mental health? Is there a "normal", "typical", or "average", measure that we can use to suggest exactly what is "good mental health"? I hesitate to use these terms but I use them to provide context, and not to mislead anyone to believe that there is a standard which we can use to understand such a complex issue.
As I mentioned in the first post, mental health and mental illness rest on a continuum, and can be sometimes difficult to define. But, let's look at physical health as a way of understanding mental balance. There are times in each day that have ups and downs with regard to how we feel physically. Some people are wide awake early and feel good and ready to face the day. Others are a bit slower to adapt to the day and face a more difficult start. And, during the day, we often have a good outlook, and at other times, the day seems to drag on forever. And what happens if we have a cold, started the day with a backache or stiff neck from sleeping? At any time of the day we have may have some minor malady that colors the way we feel physically. And, if we had taken a snapshot at any time of day, the result would be only a brief look at how we felt, and only at that time. It is only when we evaluate the entire day that we have a feeling of good or poor physical health. It is important to recognize that most of our reflection of a day in our life is based on perception! So, for example, what if you have a backache that is causing a problem? It can be acute, and only troubling periodically, or chronic, and a constant discomfort in your life. But, the manner and methods of dealing with the problem determines your perception of how good or bad you feel.
So now, let's translate this analogy into the world of mental health and wellness. At any time of the day you may encounter traffic problems, road rage, a situation at work or home that can be considered a disturbance from the norm. And, worse, it could be the dissolution of a relationship, personal trauma with a death, or other unbalancing of what would be considered typical. And, the manner in which you deal with these occurrences and perceive the impact on your life, defines mental health for you. and only you.
So, is there a way that we can measure our personal or individual mental wellness? The answer really becomes a question of how we perceive our life, how we react to the ever changing world around us, and how we manage to integrate the bad with the good. By definition, the normal, typical, or average, is different for each of us and sometimes extremely difficult to quantify. We live in a complicated world with ever.changing stimuli, and life changing events, but we can control the way we see, hear, and react to those changes. But, what happens when the situation cannot be controlled due to brain chemistry, and an inability to have any insight of perception? We will begin to explore the world of mental illness in the next post. Thanks for following this journey...
As I mentioned in the first post, mental health and mental illness rest on a continuum, and can be sometimes difficult to define. But, let's look at physical health as a way of understanding mental balance. There are times in each day that have ups and downs with regard to how we feel physically. Some people are wide awake early and feel good and ready to face the day. Others are a bit slower to adapt to the day and face a more difficult start. And, during the day, we often have a good outlook, and at other times, the day seems to drag on forever. And what happens if we have a cold, started the day with a backache or stiff neck from sleeping? At any time of the day we have may have some minor malady that colors the way we feel physically. And, if we had taken a snapshot at any time of day, the result would be only a brief look at how we felt, and only at that time. It is only when we evaluate the entire day that we have a feeling of good or poor physical health. It is important to recognize that most of our reflection of a day in our life is based on perception! So, for example, what if you have a backache that is causing a problem? It can be acute, and only troubling periodically, or chronic, and a constant discomfort in your life. But, the manner and methods of dealing with the problem determines your perception of how good or bad you feel.
So now, let's translate this analogy into the world of mental health and wellness. At any time of the day you may encounter traffic problems, road rage, a situation at work or home that can be considered a disturbance from the norm. And, worse, it could be the dissolution of a relationship, personal trauma with a death, or other unbalancing of what would be considered typical. And, the manner in which you deal with these occurrences and perceive the impact on your life, defines mental health for you. and only you.
So, is there a way that we can measure our personal or individual mental wellness? The answer really becomes a question of how we perceive our life, how we react to the ever changing world around us, and how we manage to integrate the bad with the good. By definition, the normal, typical, or average, is different for each of us and sometimes extremely difficult to quantify. We live in a complicated world with ever.changing stimuli, and life changing events, but we can control the way we see, hear, and react to those changes. But, what happens when the situation cannot be controlled due to brain chemistry, and an inability to have any insight of perception? We will begin to explore the world of mental illness in the next post. Thanks for following this journey...
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