Topics in Mental Health
This section is intended to give an introduction to the key areas of mental health and wellbeing that are covered by the proposed Mental Health Pact. You can browse through these topics using the options on the left hand navigation.
The proposed EU Mental Health pact will be centred around four thematic areas:
- Children, Education and Young People
- Employment and Workplaces
- Healthy Ageing and Later Life
- Preventing Suicide and Depression
A fifth strand of work, Stigma and Social Exclusion , will run through all the thematic areas.
The Pact will also emphasise the importance of action on four ‘horizontal’ levels: the promotion of mental wellbeing; the prevention of mental disorders; support for people experiencing mental health problems; and improvement of the knowledge base.
Mental Health is a subject with a wide variety of terminology, and some concepts and constructs that overlap. SUPPORT uses the following concepts, though these are also subject to debate and discussion.
The World Health Organisation describes mental health as:
“a state of well-being in which the individual realises 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” .
Mental health encompasses the abilities to develop emotionally, psychologically, intellectually, socially and spiritually (Barry and Jenkins, 2007). It includes concepts such as resilience, a sense of mastery and control, optimism and hope as well as our ability to initiate and sustain relationships and to play a part in our social world.
Mental health is therefore a measure of how people, organisations and communities think, feel and function, individually and collectively. Communities, organisations and societies benefit socially and economically where people have good mental health and this is therefore a desirable condition to foster (Keyes, 2007).
Mental Disorders - cover a continuum of diagnosable conditions that affect cognitive and emotional functioning, including mood disorders (e.g. depression) and psychotic disorders (e.g. schizophrenia).
Mental Health Problems - denote emotional and psychological difficulties which cause distress and interfere with how people go about their everyday lives.
Mental Health Promotion
Aims to protect and support emotional and social wellbeing and create the conditions that enable optimal functioning of individuals, families, communities and societies.
Mental Disorder Prevention
Aims to reduce risk factors associated with mental health problems in order to reduce the incidence, prevalence and recurrence of mental disorders, and to diminish the impact of illness on individuals and their families.
Stigma, Discrimination and Social Exclusion
Stigma is used to describe the attitudes adopted by society or individuals towards those with mental health problems or mental disorders. Discrimination is used to describe the actions that arise from stigmatising attitudes. Social exclusion is described in this context as a consequence of stigma and discrimination. (Myers et al 2008)