Mental health and its problems

Approaching a mentally ill person                                   click to view EMRO film

Sleep problems

Drug addiction

Phobias

Psychosis

Anxiety

Depressive illness

Mental health is part of public health. A mentally healthy person holds himself and others in esteem, realizes his own potential and helps others to develop theirs while respecting the socio-cultural values.

In addition the genetic factors, the way a person is brought up, the experiences he has at school, at workplace and in the community have a bearing on his mental health.

Mental health, therefore, means more than the mere absence of disease, it encompasses and interacts with the whole spectrum of human emotions, behaviours, aspirations and endeavours. It is therefore the edifice on which the structure of human development is built.                          click to view gallery

All of us experience pleasant as well as unpleasant feelings and events each day of our lives. Whenever we are faced with a problem, we experience mental tension, for example, following death of a loved one, loss of job or physical illnesses.

A person can be rendered vulnerable to develop mental health problems if he experiences, nutritional deficiencies like iodine deficiency, is brought up in an environment where he does not get intellectual stimulation, experiences abuse, violence and abandonment by parents or care givers.

Similarly displacement and migration can also render a person vulnerable to mental ill health.

On the other hand, proper nutrition, stimulating environment, presence of multiple caregivers with strong family ties, stable and supportive community set-up based on shared social, religious and cultural value system can help to, protect and promote mental health, while preventing problems of mental health.