8.2: Mental Health and Wellness
- Page ID
- 210811
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Your mental health is very important to your well-being. Just like we strive for to be physically healthy, we must also strive to be mentally, emotionally, and socially healthy.
Positive mental health allows people to:
- Cope with the stresses of life
- Be physically healthy
- Have good relationships
- Make meaningful contributions to your community
- Work productively
- Realize your full potential
Reaching Your Full Potential
What does it take to reach your full human potential, to become everything that you are capable of becoming? Is it important to have air, water, food, and shelter in order for you to strive to reach your human potential? Is it important to feel safe in order to reach your human potential?
In 1943 Abraham Maslow published one of the most cited theories of human behavior called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs[1]. The purpose of the Hierarchy of Needs was to explain that there are levels of human needs and we need to focus on each of the levels in order to become everything that we are capable of becoming. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom. Maslow developed the hierarchy with order of importance in mind, however noted that although it was observed that most people fulfilled their basic needs in the order of the hierarchy, there are some exceptions. The order of needs as categorized by Maslow from bottom to top are: physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow acknowledged that many different levels of motivation are likely to be present in a human all at once. His focus in discussing the hierarchy was to identify the basic types of motivation and the order that they generally progress as lower needs are reasonably well met.
Physiological Needs
Physiological needs are generally obvious because they are required for survival. If requirements are not met, the body cannot continue to function. Air, water, food, clothing, and shelter are the basic physiological needs.
Safety Needs
Once physical needs are satisfied, individual safety takes precedence. Safety and Security needs include:
- Personal and family safety
- Financial security
- Health and well-being
Love/belonging Needs
After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs are interpersonal. This involves feelings of belongingness. Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from larger community affiliations or simply a few close friends. Without these connections, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression. This need for belonging can sometimes overcome physiological and security needs. For example, an anorexic may ignore the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging. Deficiencies in interpersonal needs, due to neglect, shunning, ostracism, etc., can impact an individual’s ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships.
Esteem
Esteem represents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. Many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally, but must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances, such as depression, can prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.
Self-actualization
This level of need refers to what a person’s full potential is and the realization of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings, pictures, or inventions. Maslow believed that to acquire this level of need, the person must adequately achieve the previous needs.
Examples: The movie Cast Away
The movie, Cast Away, demonstrates Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. When Tom Hanks character is marooned on a deserted island the first things he does find water and food. These actions satisfy his immediate physiological needs. Next he needs to find shelter for safety and security. To meet his love and belongingness needs he has “Wilson”
Attributions:
The above content was remix from:
6: Emotional and Mental Health is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.