Mental Health vs. Mental Illness
Good mental health is not the absence of psychosis, addiction, depression or any number of common symptoms.
My first rotation as a new medical resident taught me all the wrong things about psychiatry.
I was assigned to treat people with psychosis in a county hospital. My supervisor was great. The staff were excellent. And I really enjoyed the patients I served.
But the default assumption was wrong: the best way to learn about health is not through treating illness. It comes from working with people to improve health.
This is a tricky distinction. But I’ll do my best to explain.
Health and illness are separate but related ideas.
We would never say “he doesn’t have a broken hip, so he must have great health.” We know that you can be free from fracture and still have poor health. Likewise, it’s common to say “she has a broken hip, but her health is great.”
In the same way, good mental health is not the absence of psychosis, addiction, depression or any number of common symptoms.
In my view, good mental health is:
- Approaching problems with flexibility,
- Strengthening relationships,
- Applying intellectual expertise,
- Experiencing and managing the full range of emotions,
- Living in harmony with common human values,
- Empathizing with others, and
- Appreciating the connection between your mind and body.
In short: you can carry a diagnosis and be in great mental health.
It takes effort to build your mental health. It’s hard work, and it can be uncomfortable. But it’s worth the investment.
(This definition of mental health is adapted from a paper that came out during my first year of residency. S. Galderisi, A. Heinz, M. Kastrup, J. Beezhold, N. Sartorius, Toward a new definition of mental health. World Psychiatry 14, 231–233 (2015).)