How Are MentalHealth Disorders Defined and How Can Psychology Help?

Mental Health - What is it?

Mentalhealth is defined as: The psychological well-being and satisfactory adjustments to society and to the ordinary demands of life. A state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of every day life. A person’s overall emotional and psychological condition i.e. “Since witnessing the accident, his mental health has been poor”.

The Study of Characteristics that make up MENTAL HEALTH has been called “positive psychology”. Some ideas put forward as characteristics of mental health are:

  • The Ability To Enjoy Life- The Ability to enjoy life is essential to good Mental Health.
  • RESILIENCE- The Ability to bounce back from adversity. The ability to cope well with stress.
  • BALANCE- Balance in life results in greater Mentalhealth. Balancing time socially vs. alone. Balancing work with play, sleep with awake time, rest with exercise.
  • FLEXIBILITY- Working on making our expectations more flexible can improve mental health. Having high expectations will bring undue stress, be more flexible.
  • SELF ACTUALIZATION- Is a Mentally Healthy person in the process of actualizing their Potential. In order to do this one must first feel secure.

Other concepts are the ability of forming healthy relationships with others. Adult and Adolescent mentalhealth also includes self-esteem, a healthy sexuality, and dealing with loss or death.

MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS

  1. ANXIETY DISORDERS:
    • OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
    • PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
    • PANIC Attacks
    • Social Anxiety Phobia
  2. ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
    • AADD (Adult Attention Deficit Disorder)
    • ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
    • AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS- Persuasive Developmental Disorders
  3. BIPOLAR DISORDER-Manic Depressive Illness
  4. BORDERLINE DISABILITY DISORDERS
  5. DEPRESSION
  6. EATING DISORDERS
    • Bulimia
    • Anorexia Nervosa
  7. SCHIZOPHRENIA

There is help. The Mental Health.net Directory lists 2,399 Professionals. It is easy to search according to name of professional, the city listings, state listings, zip codes, and countries.

  • Medline Plus, a service of the National Library of Medicine provides:
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  • Clinical Trials.gov, a service of the National Library of Medicine, provides:
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    • human volunteers