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8.1: Introduction to Emotional and Mental Health

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    210768
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    8.1: Introduction to Emotional and Mental Health

    Learning Objectives:

    Learning Objectives
    • Describe what mental, emotional, and psychological health entails.
    • Recognize warning signs of emotional distress
    • Relate Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to emotional health
    • Recognize emotional defense mechanisms

    Do you feel you are living up to your potential?

    Do you find opportunities throughout the day to focus on happiness?

    Do you feel good about yourself?

    Have you ever felt sad for a prolonged amount of time?

    Have you, or do you know someone who has, felt depressed or had anxiety?

    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. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Mental health is fundamental to our collective and individual ability as humans to think, emote, interact with each other, earn a living and enjoy life. Although more emphasis is often placed on our physical wellness, mental and physical health are equally important components of overall health.

    Although poor mental health and mental illness are terms that are often used interchangeably, poor mental health and mental illness are not the same. A person can experience poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness. Likewise, a person diagnosed with a mental illness can experience periods of physical, mental, and social well-being.

    According to the World Health Organization:

    • Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders.
    • Mental health is an integral part of health; indeed, there is no health without mental health.
    • Mental health is determined by a range of socioeconomic, biological and environmental factors

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    6: Emotional and Mental Health is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.


    8.1: Introduction to Emotional and Mental Health is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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