MENTAL HEALTH

Is a psychological state of well-being characterized by a continuing personal growth, a sense of purpose in life, self-acceptance and positive relations with

others.

PERSONALITY- is the total uniqueness or pattern of characteristics of the individual

Mental Hygiene-is the science of the preservation of mental health.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PEOPLE WITH GOOD MENTAL HEALTH

A. They feel comfortable about themselves.

B. They feel right about other peopleC. They are able to meet the demands of

life.

CRAB... or two or three to use in your MSN messeng

FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH1. HEREDITY FACTORTraits of the parents and ancestors are transmitted

to the children through their genes.Intelligence and feeblemindedness are inherited.

Heredity- is the passing of traits from parents to offspring. It shapes one’s personality and behavior and makes people different.

2. Physical FactorA healthy body makes a healthy mind. Unhealthy

condition makes life abnormal. The physical condition of the individual has a direct effect on his or her mental health.

Socio-Cultural FactorChildren develop attitudes and

behavioral patterns from past experiences.

The home being the first environment of the children influences their behavior and attitude.

The community in which an individual belongs may contribute to the development of his/her mental health.

School and religious institutions may also help in molding child’s personality.

History of Mental HealthDuring the Stone Age , a person with

mental disorder was believed to be possessed by evil spirits that lived in the mind. Boring holes in the skulls of the mentally ill person would release the evil spirits that dwelled in the mind, thereby curing the illness.

MIDDLE AGES – the mentally ill person possessed by the devil was believed to have supernatural powers to harm others. The remedy was to burn the affected person.

18TH centuryMental illness was considered a shame in the family. The mentally ill persons were put in jail as a solution to

the problem. The ill persons were chained and hidden from public view.

Before the beginning of the 19th century, new movements in England and France began. The chains of mentally ill persons were broken. In 1812 , an American social reformer named Dr. Benjamin Rush advocated humane treatment for the mentally ill persons. His works on mental disorder opened another field in medicine called PSYCHIATRY, the study and treatment of mental disease. Dorothea Dix, a young American school teacher, founded the first public hospitals for mentally ill persons in 1840’s.

The acceptance of this change of treatment came very slowly.Most hospitals only provided custodial care. It took almost a hundred years for patients to receive effective treatment,Clifford Beers – a former

patient ,published a book in 1908 entitled “A Mind That Found Itself”. This book brought awareness and truth about mental hospitals . The Mental Health Association was organized.

Today, mentally ill persons receive full humane treatment in all mental hospitals with funding from government. Also nongovernment agencies offer donations for insane patients.