Mental health

Mental health is sometimes defined as an absence of mental illness.

It is better to describe it as the person having particular ways of thinking or behaviour that help them to feel good and to maintain how they feel on a daily basis.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) states: "Mental health is an integral and essential component of health."

The WHO constitution states: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." An important consequence of this definition is that mental health is described as more than the absence of mental disorders or disabilities.

Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. In this positive sense, mental health is the foundation for individual well-being and the effective functioning of a community.

Reference: World Health Organisation

 

Mental illness

Typically, we talk about mental health problems or mental illness, there is no good definition, and the concept of mental illness can be subjective and culture bound.

We define a person as having a particular mental illness if they have symptoms or behaviour that typically represents syndromes of behaviour that psychiatrists or psychologists may diagnose as a “mental illness”.

A mental illness can result in a disruption in a person's thinking, feeling, moods,  ability to relate to others, and behaviour. Mental illness can be defined by legislation, although each state and country will have slightly different legislation.

In this module we are defining mental illness as a person:

• having particular symptoms or behaviour
• that represents certain types of illnesses that psychiatrists or psychologists diagnose according to common diagnostic criteria.

 

 

Types of mental health problems after a traumatic brain injury

Types of mental health problems after a traumatic brain injury include:

a) Depression

b) Psychosis

c) Anxiety disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder

d) Personality change

Each of these can be diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist.

These are people's abilities. An ABI will impact on these abilities. A mental health problem will impact on these abilities.

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