What is Mental Health?

Mental health is a concept that refers to a human individual's emotional and

psychological well-being.

Merriam-Webster defines Mental Health as :

"A state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an
individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities,
function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life."

According to WHO (World Health Organization),Mental Health

can be defined as:
"A state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own
abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work
productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or
her community".

The WHO proposes that mental health is not merely an absence of disease or
an illness. Mental health is about having sufficient money to live on, having
a job and enjoying relationships and friendships. It is dependent on an
individual having a sense of meaning for their life and having control over
their life.

Mental Health is the balance between all aspects of life

- social, physical, spiritual and emotional. It impacts on
how we manage our surroundings and make choices in
our lives - clearly it is an integral part of our overall
health.

Mental health and mental illness run along a

continuum. When there is no balance between
aspects of life or our personal balance is off, either
repeatedly or for long periods, we may eventually
find ourselves moving closer along the continuum
towards mental illness. ( A conditions which is characterized by impairment of an
individual's normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning, and caused by social,
psychological, biochemical, genetic, or other factors, such as infection or head trauma called
mental disorder/illness)
Mental Health is vary culture to culture:
It is a broder term. The WHO (World Health Organization) suggests that it is
not possible to come up with a catch all definition for mental health due to
the diversity of cultures across the globe because ,An action considered
normal behavior in one culture might be called as eccentric in another.
For example: Cannibalism, considered as a good religious practice in remote
tribal cultures, will be considered as over the top and uncivilized in most
parts of the world.
Until recent times cannibalism was believed to prevail in central and western
Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Melanesia, Sumatra, New Guinea,
Polynesia, and remote parts of South America because these people believed
that the person who ate the dead body of another; would be mental healthy,
acquire the desired qualities of the person eaten etc or in some cultures
cannibalism Rituals were performed for many reasons including purification,
pacification of gods, and ancestor worship.
But if we talk about Islamic culture, cannibalism is against the teaching of
Islam, it is not promote human mental health.

So, "Mental health has been defined variously by scholars from different
cultures. mental health include either subjective well-being, perceived self-
efficacy, autonomy, competence, or intergenerational dependence, and self-
actualization of one's intellectual and emotional potential, among others.

What factors affect our mental well-being/ mental health?

Similar to an individual's physical health; mental health is influenced by
complex social, environmental, economic and biological factors that lead to
mental illness. Mental illnesses can affect people of all ages and from
different cultures. The suffering experienced from a mental illness can affect
not only individuals but also extend to families and whole communities.
Research has identified elements that can have either a positive or negative
influence on mental health.
Positive influences include environmental quality, self-esteem,
emotional processing, self-management skills and social
participation.
Negative influences incorporate environmental deprivation,
emotional abuse, emotional neglect, stress and social exclusion.
These elements can work at an individual level, community, family, and
workplace or peer group level and at government or organizational levels.

Factors for determining mental health illness:

Some of the environmental, social, economic and biological factors which
varies culture to culture, can determine mental health illnesses or problems
experienced by an individual include:
low levels of income
low levels of education
poor housing and infrastructure
feeling insecure or powerless
risk of violence
physical illnesses
unhealthy lifestyles (nutrition and harmful alcohol use)
human rights abuse
lack of adequate transport facilities

Models of Mental Health:

Model of Mental Health developed by Myers, Sweeny and
Witmer:
A model which is developed by Myers, Sweeny and Witmer. It includes five
life tasks:
1. essence or spirituality
2. work and leisure
3. friendship love
4. self-direction
5. twelve sub taskssense of worth, sense of control, realistic beliefs,
emotional awareness and coping, problem solving and creativity,
sense of humor, nutrition, exercise, self care, stress management,
gender identity, and cultural identity
These five life tasks are identified as characteristics of healthy functioning
and a major component of wellness. The components provide a means of
responding to the circumstances of life in a manner that promotes healthy
functioning.

Model of 4 Ds for determining Mental Health:

There are four features for defining mental health, is known as 4 Ds:
1. Deviance
2. Distress/discomfort
3. Dysfunction
 4. Danger
Deviance:
Each society establishes some norms (norms are explicit and implicit rules
for proper conduct). A person will be mentally healthy when he/she behave
or think according to the norms of the society, other vise person sustain
some sort of mental illness.
Distress/Discomfort:
A behavior, idea, or emotions usually have to cause distress before they can
be labaled abnormal. A functioning that is considered unusual does not
necessarily qualify as abnormal.
Dysfunction:
Dysfunction mean, A function and activity that interferes with the daily
functioning. it so upsets, distracts or confuses people that they cannot care
themselves properly, lead to mental illness.
On the other hand, a person will be mentally healthy whos tension or
confusion not interferes with daily functioning, they do properly care of
themselves properly and participate in ordinary social interaction or work
productivity.
Danger
A behavior that becomes dangerous to ourselves or others. Individual whos
behavior is consistently careless hostile or confused may be placing
themselves or those around them at risk.
Religious Perspective:

Imam-Ghazali (1058-1111)view of Mental

Health:
He described the personality as an "integration of
spiritual and bodily forces" and believed that
"closeness to God is equivalent to mentally healthy
(normality), whereas distance from God leads to
mental Illness (Abnormality)."
According to Imam Ghazali there are two types of Mental Illness:
Diseases

Physical Spiritual

He considered the Spiritual is more dangerous, resulting from

"ignorance and deviation from God", and listed the spiritual mental
illness as: self-centeredness; addiction to wealth, fame and social
status; and ignorance, cowardice, cruelty, lust, was (doubt),
malevolence, calumny, envy, deception, and greed. To overcome these
spiritual weaknesses, al-Ghazali suggested the therapy of opposites
("use of imagination in pursuing the opposite"), such as ignorance &
learning, or hate & love.

Studies show prayers physical and mental benefits:

A research is conducted by the University of Malaya's Biomedical
Engineering Department (December 21, 2006) in order to find out
either postures of the daily Muslim prayers have physical and mental
health benefits to the human body or not.
Result of this study is that Muslims pray five times a day, which each
prayer made of a series of postures and movements. Postures during
the prayers are beneficial to the heart, spine and the capacity of
memory and attention.
(Www. Shows Prayer Physical Benefits.htm)
The "Yoga" of Islamic Prayer:
A Research is conducted by Karima Burns, MH, ND in December 21,
2006. Yoga consists of a number of "asnas," or body positions,
which one retains for a desired length of time while either
reciting "mantras" or breathing in a rhythmic manner.
Interestingly, for the millions of people enrolled in yoga
classes, the Islamic form of prayer (namaz) has provided
Muslims for fourteen centuries with some of yoga's same (and
even superior) benefits. This simple form of "yoga" offers
physical, mental, and spiritual benefits five times a day as
Muslims assume certain positions while reciting Qur'an and
athkar (remembrances).

According to Modern Scientific Research: The Muslim prayer has

five positions, and they all (as well as the recitations we make
while performing the prayer) have a corresponding
relationship with our spiritual and mental well being

According to Muslim Researchers: Muslim researchers have

shown that when Muslims recite the Qur'an, old thoughts,
feelings, fears and guilt are released or healed, and blood
pressure and stress levels are reduced. Virtually all of the
sounds of the Arabic language are uttered while reciting
Qur'an, creating a balance in all affected areas of the body.
(http://www.islamonline.net/English/Science/2000/7/article2.shtml)
Maintaining Mental Health involves:

Attention to lifestyle - if we are doing too much or too little in our lives,
mental health can suffer. We need a good balance between work or study
and leisure pursuits.
Social contact - having contact with others whose company we enjoy,
whether at school, work, at home or as a member of a club, helps to
develop social interaction.
Reviewing our lives from time to time - this involves considering what
our aims and goals in life are and whether we are taking steps to achieve
them. Problems can arise when we feel that life is not satisfying and
fulfilling.
Awareness of how mind and body interact - just as our state of mental
health can affect our physical health, the reverse is also true. If diet, sleep
and exercise are neglected and inadequate, not only our bodies will suffer
but also our minds.
Having people in our lives we trust - it is important to have someone to
go to with our problems and worries, such as friends, teachers or family
members.
Awareness of what can go wrong - just be conscious of what can go
wrong. Realize that tiredness and irritability, if ignored, might lead to more
serious stress - related problems.
Taking steps to resolve problems - be aware of problems and seek
help if necessary.