The Evaluation Of Mental Health PDF

# The Evaluation Of Mental Health ## The Evaluation of Mental health in Terms of "Positive" - Interpersonal skills, capacity for adaptation, adjustment, and resolution of problems - Ability to love, work and play - Ability to adapt, adjust and solve problems ### Jahoda's "Multiple Criteria" Appro...

# The Evaluation Of Mental Health ## The Evaluation of Mental health in Terms of "Positive" - Interpersonal skills, capacity for adaptation, adjustment, and resolution of problems - Ability to love, work and play - Ability to adapt, adjust and solve problems ### Jahoda's "Multiple Criteria" Approach - A person could be considered healthy according to one criteria but not another. - No single, homogeneous entity of Mental health. - Criticism: Inconsistency of criteria. Similar criteria but different enough to provide different diagnoses of the same person. - The term "Positive" mental health relates to self-actualization and achievement of human potential. - This concept can't be applied to children without revisions. It is a static concept that doesn't consider the process of development. - The concept of "positive mental health" can't be reduced to illness or normalcy. ### New Research - Little progress has been made since Jahoda. - More difficult to define "positive mental health" than to define "illness" or "disturbance". - Need for new concepts to define "salutogenic" processes (Antonovsky, 1985; Cowen, 1991) - Concepts of "positive mental health" and "self-actualization/maturity" overlap, but they don't encompass the complex aspects of self-actualization. ## Conclusion - The concept of "self-actualization" isn't as applicable in the context of education because it doesn't account for the developmental aspect of a person's life. - "Self-actualization" is an individualist notion. - The concept of "positive mental health" is too broad and vague for accurate identification of a mature person. - More research is needed to define salutogenic processes. ## Factors Influencing Personal Identity - Identity is created within a social context. - Schools play a role in socializing individuals within a particular culture. - Traditional socialization is being disrupted as cultural differences increase and the landscape of culture has become more fragmented. - Personal identity development is affected by these shifts. ## Three Conceptualizations of Self-Actualization ### 1. Self-Actualization as Motivation and Need - Maslow (1983, 1991): personal maturity= self-actualization - Self-actualization is the transcendence of basic needs, like security, safety, love and belonging, that are considered "deficiency needs". - Self-actualization is based on "growth needs". - Self-actualization is about being, not just becoming. - Reaching self-actualization is an infrequent occurrence. - Maslow identified 18 characteristics of self-actualized people. 1. Accurate perception of reality 2. Acceptance of self, others and nature. 3. Spontaneity, simplicity, naturalness. 4. Focus on problems 5. Need for space and privacy 6. Independence from culture and others. 7. Clear appreciation 8. Mystical experiences 9. Feeling of community 10. Deep and selective relationships 11. Democratic Structure of Character 12. Distinction between means and ends, clear ethical grounding. 13. Philosophical sense of humor. 14. Creativity 15. Resistance to adaptation. Independence from Culture. 16. Imperfections 17. Values and self-actualization 18. Elimination of dichotomies. - These characteristics emerge from holistic analysis. - Maslow argued that most people exist at a lower level of functioning (Psychopathology of normalcy). - Even self-actualized people have flaws, like vanity, pride, irritability, boredom, and cruelty. - Maslow didn't examine the application of his theory to youth. ### 2. Self-Actualization as Completeness of Life - Charlotte Bühler (1962): Life is a journey with goals that hold inherent value and meaning. - Self-actualization involves the struggle to achieve these goals and find meaning in life. - This approach emphasizes the integration of the various aspects of life, including satisfying basic needs, adapting to limitations,expanding outward, and maintaining inner order. - The successful life involves a balance of these elements. - Ultimately, a successful life is defined by feeling complete. - This idea is linked to "satisfying aging" (Ryff, 1989) and "Integrity" (Erikson, 1985). - Bühler's research suggests that balance is the key to a fulfilling life. - Happiness is a product of the tension amongst these four tendencies within individuals. ### 3. The Will to Meaning (Viktor Frankl, 1988) - Focuses on the search for personal meaning in life. - The will to meaning is the primary motivational force. - Humans are capable of "self-transcendence", or the ability to connect to something beyond oneself, whether a cause, a person, or a value. - The purpose of life is to fulfill this meaning.