Volume 5 Issue 12 December 2015
WHO defines mental health as “A state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her 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”. It aims to discover and promote the factors that allow individuals and communities to thrive. The new century challenges psychology to shift more of its intellectual energy to the study of the positive aspects of human existence and experience. A science of positive subjective experience, of positive individual traits, and of positive institution promises to improve the quality of life and also to prevent the various pathologies that arise when life is barren and meaningless. At this juncture of material prosperity, social and behavioural sciences can play an enormously important role. They can articulate a vision of good life that is empirically sound while being understandable and attractive. Positive psychologists should be able to document what kind of families result in children who flourish, what work settings support the greatest satisfaction among workers and how lives can be most worth living.
Positive mental health means optimal human functioning. Positive mental health is as important as the physical health. A key goal of mental health promotion is to ensure that the social, cultural, economic and environmental conditions conducive to good health are accessible to all members of a given community.
It is necessary to understand optimal functioning at multiple levels, including experiential, personal, relational, societal and global. It is necessary to study the dynamic relations between processes at these levels, human capacity to create order and meaning in response to inevitable adversity and the means by which “the good life” in all possible manifestations that may emerge.
The science of positive psychology has three constituent parts- positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions that enable the first two.
Recent review showed that under some conditions, positive mood seems to facilitate careful processing of goal relevant information and people in a positive mood respond more flexibly and constructively to important information about themselves and their environments. Positive emotions not only give momentary relief from distress but also energize individuals and sustain their coping efforts. Also, the thinking styles of people experiencing positive emotions are more creative, flexible and open. Hence, more efforts need to be invested towards positive psychology and positive mental health.
Dr. Krishan Soni Assistant Professor Department of Psychology, PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana Email: keshusony@rediffmail.com
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