Mental health refers to a condition or quality of mental health, usually defined as the “level of emotional or mental health of an individual.” It is an individual’s state of mental and emotional adjustment that is “working at a satisfactory level.” Mental illness is different from mental health because mental illnesses often do not have a definite cause but it can be a symptom of underlying mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, drug addiction, and post traumatic stress disorder. When a person does not know the cause of his or her mental illnesses, they may feel uncomfortable since their behavior is so unpredictable. Because the cause of a mental disorder may not be known, the person who suffers from it might have to face severe emotional, physical, and even legal difficulties.
When discussing the various levels of mental health there are many ways of defining mental health and mental illnesses. The level of health can be classified by the extent of a person’s psychological impairment or by the level of emotional distress he or she experiences. People with mild psychiatric disabilities may experience mild distress on a daily basis and this is a necessary phase for the development of the person’s brain. However, a person with a mild psychiatric disability can be categorized as mentally healthy. A person with a chronic psychiatric disorder might experience severe discomfort or other negative emotions but he or she is unable to function properly in everyday activities. There are people who are described as having a severe mental illness, but they are able to function adequately in day-to-day life.
There are two main areas of focus when talking about mental health: Individual mental health and the family mental health. The level and quality of individual mental health can be established through a questionnaire given to a patient by his or her physician or other medical health professionals. This questionnaire allows the physician or other medical health professional to determine what symptoms a patient is experiencing on a daily basis. Once these symptoms have been determined, an individual’s individual mental health condition is established and this is usually measured using a questionnaire. Family mental health involves the mental health of a person’s family and their relationships with one another. These questions on family health usually involve questions about a patient’s social interaction and family background. The person answering the questionnaires is considered to be part of the patient’s family and should be treated as such since the patient’s family is also suffering from the same problems.
